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LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES, 

\ 

BY  REV.  JOHN  DEMPSTER,  D.  D. 


WITH  AN 


APPENDIX, 


CONTAIlSriNG  THE  FUNERAL  SERMON  AND  MEMORIAL 
SERVICES  OCCASIONED  BY  THE  DEATH 
OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


EDITED  BY  REV.  D.  W.  CLARK,  D.  D. 


CINCINNATI: 

PUBLISHED  BY  POE  & HITCHCOCK, 

CORNER  OF  MAIN  AND  EIGHTH  STREETS. 


R.  P.  THOMPSON,  PRINTER, 
1 864. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864, 


BY  POE  & HITCHCOCK, 


In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  Ohio. 


3 33 


EDITOE’S  PEEFAOE. 


It  was  our  good  fortune,  in  a casual  visit  to  our 
venerable  friend  some  months  before  his  death,  to 
secure  from  him  the  promise  that  he  would  make  a 
collection  of  his  lectures  and  addresses  for  publica- 
tion. Not  long  after,  a package  containing  the 
promised  articles  was  received.  But  scarcely  had 
we  gone  through  them,  when  the  sad  intelligence 
broke  upon  us  that  John  Dempster  was  dead.  It 
was  all  the  more  startling  from  the  fact  that  it  had 
never  seemed  to  enter  our  thought  that  a man  of 
such  iron  will  and  with  such  large  plans,  in  which 
he  was  still  working  with  all  the  vigor  of  youth, 
could  die  in  the  midst  of  his  unfinished  work.  The 
sudden  death  of  the  author  devolved  upon  the  edi- 
tor a responsibility  and  a labor  not  anticipated  at 
the  outset.  But  he  trusts  that  he  has  so  accom- 
plished thisvtask  as  to  meet  the  .approval  of  the 
friends  of  the  Doctor,  and  of  the  Church. 

Away  back,  thirty  years  ago,  we  remember  to 
have  heard  accounts  of  most  thrilling  scenes  trans- 
piring under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Dempster.  In 

those  times  he  rode  around  the  large  districts  of 

1 


2 


editor’s  preface. 


Central  and  Northern  New  York  like  a flame  of 
fire.  Immense  congregations  attended  his  ministry. 
His  preaching  swayed  the  masses  as  the  waving 
grain  bends  before  the  gale.  If  those  sermons  could 
have  been  caught  as  they  fell  from  his  lips,  and 
daguerreotyped  with  the  living  spirit  with  which 
they  flowed  from  him,  then  might  we  have  before 
us  the  living,  breathing  John  Dempster  in  ail  the 
might  of  his  early  manhood. 

The  best  substitute  is  that  afforded  by  this  vol- 
ume. It  contains  his  missionary  addresses  and  his 
mature  thoughts  embraced  in  his  lectures  to  his 
theological  students.  They  are  marked  by  the  pe- 
culiarities of  his  style  of  thought  and  diction. 

As  the  esteemed  author  passed  away  from  earth 
to  heaven,  while  the  work  was  yet  in  the  hands  of 
the  printer,  we  have  added  an  Appendix,  containing 
the  funeral  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eddy,  and  the 
memorial  services  subsequently  had  in  the  Clark- 
Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Chicago.  This 
last  feature  of  the  work  will  be  peculiarly  accept- 
able to  the  friends  of  the  deceased  at  this  time;  and 
will  also  be  of  permanent  interest,  as  it  enables  us 
to  embody  much  of  his  personal  history,  together 
with  graphic  delineations  of  his  character. 


Western  Book  Concern. 


D.  W.  C. 


OOITTElSrTS. 


I. 

PAGE. 

The  Ministerial  Call  : A Discourse  addressed  to  the  Members 
of  the  Biblical  Institute,  Concord,  N.  H.,  February  23,  1854...  13 


II. 

The  Characteristics  of  the  Age  in  their  Demands  on  the  Min- 
istry : An  Address  to  the  Alumni  of  the  Biblical  Institute, 
Concord,  N.  H.,  November  2,  1854 41 

III. 

Divine  Providence  : A Lecture  delivered  before  the  Members  of 
the  Biblical  Institute,  Concord,  N.  H 76 

lY. 

Truth  : An  Address  delivered  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  the 
Biblical  Institute,  Concord,  N.  H.,  November  2,  1852 127 

Y. 

On  the  Authority  of  the  Supernatural:  An  Address  to  the 
Graduating  Class  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  1860 161 

YI. 

On  the  Supernatural  Characteristics  of  Christ  : A Lecture  to 
the  Students  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute 


175 


4: 


CONTENTS, 


VII. 

PAGE. 

On  the  Importance  of  Locating  a Biblical  Institute  in  the 
West;  An  Address  delivered  at  Concord,  N.  H 189 

VIII. 

The  Teacher’s  Parting  Word:  An  Address  to  the  First  Gradua- 
ting Class  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute 199 

IX. 

Man  Individual — Man  Social  : An  Address  delivered  before  the 
Literary  Societies  of  the  Upper  Iowa  University 207 

< i 

X. 

On  the  Use  and  Importance  op  Mental  Culture  : An  Address  to 
the  Students  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute 225 

XI. 

A Charge  to  Rev.  Br.  Foster;  Delivered  at  his  Inauguration  as 
President  of  the  North-Western  University 237 

XII. 

A Baccalaureate  Address;  Delivered  to  the  Graduating  Class  of 
the  North-Western  University  for  1862 253 

XIII. 

A Review  of  the  Westminster  Review:  A Lecture  delivered, 
by  Request,  to  the  Students  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute 
in  1858 273 

XIV. 

Character  as  Connected  with  Success  in  the  Sacred  Office  ; An 
Address  to  the  Graduating  Class  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Insti- 
tute for  1859 293 


I 


CONTENTS.  5 

XV. 

PAGE. 

Grounds  op  Ministerial  Success:  An  Address  delivered  to  the 
Graduating  Class  which  had  finished  its  Course  in  the  Garrett 
Biblical  Institute 305 

XVI. 

A Missionary  Address:  Delivered  on  the  Occasion  of  the  De-  ^ 

parture  of  Rev.  Mr.  Baume  and  family  for  India 315 

XVII. 

The  Field  op  Missions  : An  Address  delivered  before  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Chicago 339 

XVIII. 

A Missionary  Address  : Delivered  on  the  Departure  of  Rev.  J.  R. 

Downey  and  wife  for  India 343 

XIX. 

The  Missionary  Work:  An  Address  delivered  on  the  Departure 
of  Rev.  P.  T.  Wilson  as  a Missionary  to  India 355 

XX. 

The  Gospel  only  Adapted  to  Eppect  Man’s  Redemption:  An 
Address  delivered  before  the  Missionary  Society  of  Lawrence 
University 361 

XXI. 

The  Gospel  the  only  Agency  that  can  Elevate  the  Pagan  Na- 
tions : A Missionary  Address 375 


6 


CONTENTS. 


APPENDIX. 


I.  FUNERAL  SERMON. 

PAGE. 

Preached  on  the  Occasion  op  the  Death  op  Dr.  Dempster, 

AT  Evanston,  III.,  December  1,  1^63,  by  Rev.  Thomas  M. 
Eddy,  D.  D 3 

II.  MEMORIAL  SERVICES. 

HELD  IN  THE  CLARK-STREET  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  CHICAGO,  DEC.  10,  1863. 


1.  Dr.  Dempster  as  a Minister,  by  Rev,  E.  D.  Hemenway 33 

2.  Dr.  Dempster  as  a Missionary,  by  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder,  D.  D.  42 

3.  Dr.  Dempster  as  a Student  and  Thinker,  by  Rev.  Henry 

Bannister,  D.  D 60 

4.  Dr.  Dempster  as  an  Instructor,  by  Rev.  C.  H.  Fowler,  A.  M.  58 

5.  Dr.  Dempster  as  a Man  op  Progress,  by  Rev.  0.  H.  Tip- 

FANY,  D.  D 63 


I^TTEODUOTION'. 


Dr.  Betiiune  lias  well  said  that  ^^he  who  writes 
successfully  for  America  writes  for  the  world.” 

It  is  doubtless  not  only  the  privilege  but  the  duty 
of  him  who  can  write  effectively  to  write.  And  as 
the  press  is  now  the  conservator  of  thought,  it  is 
the  duty  of  those  who  control  it  to  seek  out  and 
seize  upon  words  of  worth  and  treasure  them,  if, 
after  the  rubbing  and  testing,  they  shall  prove  to 
be  gems  suitable  to  be  labeled  and  laid  up  in  the 
world’s  cabinet  for  the  use  of  all  who  shall  read 
hereafter.  In  the  prosecution  of  these  duties  the 
following  book  has  naturally  enough  resulted. 

Not  panegyric  is  needed  to  give  permanency  to  a 
book,  but  rather  patient  submission  to  the  wearing'; 
for  if  it  contain  exact  truths,  compressed  in  fairest 
forms,  it  must  live,  and  each  separated  sentence  be 
entitled  to  its  quotation  marks  forever;  and  if  not, 
the  untruth  must  perish,  and  the  rest  only  serve  as 
material  for  future  thought-molders. 

Methodist  ministers  have  written  few  books ; they 

7 


INTRODUCTION. 


have  doubtless  contributed  less  to  the  general  fund 
of  literature  than  any  other  body  of  men  of  equal 
ability.  They  have  had  a mission  to  fulfill,  and 
have  labored  ^^in  earnest”  to  accomplish  it  well. 
Their  labor  has  been  for"^the  salvation. of  souls,  not 
the  getting  of  gain  or  the  renown  of  scholarship; 
to  meet  the  present  demands  rather  than  to  receive 
the  meed  of  future  gratitude.  They  have  extem- 
porized, but  have  not  published.  Hence,  our  most 
useful  and  efficient  ministers  have  left  us  only  verses 
instead  of  volumes,  and  shreds  instead  of  sermons. 

This  has  been  true,  in  a most  eminent  degree, 
with  the  author.  While  in  his  active  ministry  he 
often  thrilled  thousands  as  few  in  any  land  have 
ever  been  able  to  do;  yet  these  most  touching  and 
powerful  sermons  exist  only  in  their  undying  effects. 
It  is  with  greater  pleasure,  therefore,  that  this  book, 
which  a change  of  life-labors  alone  has  secured  to 
us,  will  be  welcomed  by  those  who  best  know  its 
author.  It  will  be  an  added  reason  for  heart-felt 
gratitude  to  God  for  having  raised  up  so  powerful 
an  educator  among  us,  and  directed  him  into  that 
course  of  life  ^Hor  which  he  justly  merits  the  title 
of  Founder  of  Theological  Schools  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.” 

The  book,  at  this  time,  is  opportune.  The  words 
of  Bacon — In  the  youth  of  a State  arms  do  ffour- 


INTRODUCTION. 


9 


ish;  in  the  middle  age  of  a State,  learning;  and  then 
both  of  them  together  for  a time” — appear  to  receive 
something  of  confirmation  by  the  rapidity  with  which 
books  are  multiplied,  in  the  face  of  all  discourage- 
ments, to  meet  the  increasing  demand.  Especially 
is  the  demand  great  for  books  of  this  class.  The 
cry  is  for  addresses  and  sermons,  and  for  such  ,.as 
discuss  important  topics,  and  examine  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  religious  belief  and  moral  action. 

This  book  contains  such  a selection  of  missionary 
and  literary  addresses  as  will  be  most  interesting  as 
well  as  most  profitable  and  precious  to  all. 

The  missionary  addresses  are  associated  with 
times  and  characters  that  are  very  dear  to  many, 
and  the  charges  delivered  to  the  brave  young  her- 
alds of  the  Cross,  as  they  have  gone  forth,  evince 
such  a thorough  acquaintance  with  mission  fields, 
such  a comprehension  of  all  their  difficulties  and 
discouragements,  and  such  a high  appreciation  of 
their  just  claims  and  future  destinies,  as  prove  them 
to  be  the  earnest  utterances  of  one  who  knows,  exper- 
imentally, whereof  he  affirms.  In  the  tenderness  and 
trust  with  which  he  commits  his  pilgrim  pupils  into 
the  care  of  Him  who  holds  the  sea  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,  one  reads  the  father  as  well  as  friend. 

In  the  Farewell  Words  to  the  Graduating  Classes 
are  faithful  warnings  of  errors  to  be  encountered. 


10 


INTRODUCTION. 


and  the  shams  and  pretensions  which,  in  an  age  of 
activity  and  inquiry,  it  is  the  difficult  duty  of  the 
scholar-minister  to  defend  against. 

Here  are  other  lectures  giving  truer  views  of 
study  and  superior  methods  of  mental  culture.  The 
student  arises  from  their  perusal  fired  with  the  fixed 
fact  that  if  he  would  wield  the  weapons  of  Milo  of 
Crotona  in  the  Olympias,  he  must  meet  or  bear  the 
ox-weight  upon  his  shoulder;  like  that  athlete,  he 
must  begin  early  and  labor  late,  avoiding  the  frenzy- 
flights  and  desperation  which  bound  the  giant,  not-’ 
withstanding  his  brazen  sinews  and  iron  bones,  to 
the  tree  as  a prey  for  the  wolves.  Another  lecture 
would  cultivate  Truth,  before  which  Error  can  no 
more  stand  than  Satan  before  the  spear  of  Ithuriel. 

Providence  and  science  are  brought  to  view  as 
thoughts  of  God  manifested  in  his  works.  The 
whole  universe  becomes  a temple  of  the  living 
God — the  star-fields  its  lighted  dome — the  earth  its 
altar,  consecrated  by  the  residence  of  the  Eternal 
Son — the  blended  fragrance  of  flowers  its  incense — 
wind,  wave,  and  thunder  its  choral  harmony,  and 
MAN  ITS  Priest  and  w^orshiper. 

These  writings  will  make  one  feel  firmer  in  his 
belief  in  the  great  teachings  of  Christianity.  Not 
that  the  foundation  is  here  tested,  and  all  its  evi- 
dences elaborated,  but  because  Suggestion  marshals 


INTRODUCTION. 


11 


those  proofs  already' in  the  mind,  and  those  under 
the  command  of  Kecollection  are  drafted  into  service. 

Some,  books/’  we  are  told,  ^^are  to  be  tasted, 
others  swallowed,  and  some  few  are  to  be  chewed 
and  digested.”  It  is  certainly  true,  then,  that  those 
be  read  wholly,  with  diligence  and  attention,” 
are  those  written  when  ^4earning  hath”  passed  ^^its 
infancy,  when  it  is  but  beginning;  its  youth,  when 
it  is  luxuriant  and  juvenile,”  into  ^^its  strength  of 
years,  when  it  is  solid  and  reduced.” 

^^It  is  strange,”  says  Bacon,  ^4iow  long  some  men 
will  lie  in  wait  to  speak  somewhat  they  desire  to 
say,  and  how  far  about  they  will  fetch,  and  how 
many  other  things  they  will  beat  over  to  come  near 
it;”  but  no  one  ever  applied  this  to  the  author. 
His  power  of  piercing  a subject  to  its  ^4ast  analysis,” 
and  stating  ^he  results  in  their  concisest  form,  has 
long  been  acknowledged. 

The  present  volume,  though  not  involving  the 
abstract  and  metaphysical,  as  do  most  of  the  Doc- 
tor’s writings,  will  yet  be  found  to  have,  as  a se- 
quence of  its  paternity,  such  precision  as  excludes 
all  filling  in,”  and  makes  each  sentence  and  word 
in  it  a bearer  of  good. 

Precision  of  style  does  not  necessarily  make  tire- 
some reading,  as  this  book  will  prove.  Especially 
under  the  full  flow  of  thought  and  feeling,  animated 


12 


INTRODUCTION. 


by  the  fire-derived  adjectives  and  infused  zeal  of  the 
author,  does  it  find  directest  avenue  to  the  heart. 

Since  a Presentation  of  the  author  to  the  public 
is  not  demanded,  and  since  this  is  a book  particu- 
larly valuable  to  thousands  of  young  men,  it  'may 
not  be,  from  every  consideration,  inappropriate  that 
even  a humble  student  should  write  its  beginning — 
one  who  may  experimentally  say,  I know  that  it 
will  breathe  nobler  notions  of  life's  labors,  and  nerve 
one  for  a truer  ministry  that  shall  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  age." 

At  least  I may  express  the  hope  that  each  Alum- 
nus will  be  so  grounded  in  these  truths  as  to  exhibit 
the  opposite  to  that  student  of  Seneca — at  one  time 
so  charming  by  his  gentleness,  and  so  guiltless, 
when  first  clad  in  the  Eoman  purple,  that  he  burst 
into  tears,  crying,  Would  to  God  that  I had  never 
learned  to  write!"  when  compelled  to  sign  a death- 
warrant;  but  who,  by  vicious  pleasure  and  persua- 
sion, became  his  mother’s  murderer,  and  used  his 
high  ofiice  for  the  destruction  of  the  life  and  liberty 
of  the  State. 

Let  the  lessons  of  teachers  and  the  love  for  our 
Alma  Mater  be  ever  among  our  new  and  necessary 
thoughts,  and  lead  us  in  the  way  of  patriotism  and 
happiness  to  purity  and  heaven!  N.  H.  A. 

Evanston,  III.,  August  2G,  1803. 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


I. 

THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL: 

A DISCOURSE  ADDRESSED  TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BIB- 
LICAL INSTITUTE,  CONCORD,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 
FEBRUARY  23,  1854. 


And  after  he  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  we  endeavored 
to  go  into  Macedonia,  assuredly  gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called 
us  for  to  preach  the  Gospel  unto  them.’’  , Acts  xvi,  10. 

The  peculiar  occurrences  recorded  in  connection 
with  this  passage  suggest  the  general  remark,  that 
the  Divine  mode  of  indicating  human  duty  is  almost 
limitless  in  its  variety.  All  the  reasons  of  this  may 
not  now  be  open  to  our  scrutiny;  but  the  fact  is 
every-where  patent  to  the  observing  eye.  It  ap- 
pears in  that  whole  series  of  instruction  by  which 
the  Divine  Teacher  would  advance  the  race.  Every 
department  of  knowledge,  whether  natural  or  re- 
vealed, admits  of  the  application  of  the  principle ; it 
regards  what  we  are  called  on  to  believe,  and  what 
we  are  required  to  perform. 

The  context  furnishes  a striking  instance  of  pe- 
culiar direction  in  ministerial  duty.  The  minister 

13 


14 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


directed  was  St.  Paul,  whose  whole  history  had  been 
of  a peculiar  type.  It  details  voices  and  visions  in 
earth  and  heaven,  by  which  his  apostolic  course  of 
matchless  heroism  and  success  was  unerringly  di- 
rected. 

In  the  instance  before  us,  he  was  approached,  at 
a midnight  hour,  by  a spectral  messenger,  with  a 
solemn  request.  The  voice  was  Macedonian ; it  had 
a most  sententious  utterance.  The  language  was 
enigmatical.  It  was  not,  ^^Come  and  preach  to  us 
the  Gospel — shed  on  Macedonia  the  morning  light 
in  which  you  are  now  bathing  the  moral  creation;” 
but  simply,  ^^Come  over  and  help  us,"  The  in- 
volved meaning  was  understood  to  be,  ^^Come  and 
proclaim  to  us  salvation,  and  expound  to  us  the 
terms  of  its  reception.” 

This  mode  of  enjoining  a special  ministerial  duty 
illustrates  a general  probationary  principle  — one 
which  is  applicable  to  the  entire  economy  of  time. 
What  is  there  in  all  the  hopes  lighted  up  along  our 
pilgrimage,  in  all  the  conflicts  which  make  life  a 
field  of  battle,  or  in  all  the  requirements  of  which 
the  entire,  system  speaks,  which  involves  not  this 
principle  of  dim  or  hidden  import  ? The  certainty 
which  flashes  on  moral  questions,  disclosing  all  their 
meaning,  must  appertain  to  another  state;  it  can 
not  coexist  with  the  mingled  lights  and  shades  of 
this  twilight  abode.  The  single  exception  to  this 
procedure  is  in  the  interference  of  miraculous 
agency.  The  period  of  this  has  ever  been  restricted 


THE  MINISTEEIAL  CALL. 


15 


to  the  establishing  of  a new  religion.  When  that 
had  been  accredited,  voices  from  heaven  died 
away — the  hand  of  miracles  was  withdrawn  from 
human  affairs,  and  the  Divine  administration  re- 
sumed its  even  and  wonted  tenor.  This  difference 
palpably  appears  in  the  ministerial  call.  The  apos- 
tolic call  came  in  no  equivocal  impulse,  or  nightly 
dream,  or  mysterious  vision ; but  in  emphatic  terms, 
by  the  living  voice  of  the  risen  Kestorer:  or  it 
came,  as  to  the  smitten  persecutor,  from  mid  air, 
attended  by  a sound  from  beyond,  where  the 
thunder  sleeps  — by  a light  outvying  the  Asiatic 
sun. 

But  the  rushing  wind  and  tongues  of  fire  have 
long  since  ceased  to  accredit  the  ministerial  voca- 
tion. While  the  fundamental  facts  of  the  new  re- 
ligion were  purely  miraculous  in  their  nature,  it 
was  fit  that  the  commission  of  its  first  propagators 
should,  in  this  distinctive,  entirely  harmonize.  It 
was  ulso  fit  that  this  great  element  should  fade 
from  the  call  of  their  successors,  just  as  the  hand 
of  God  gradually  withdrew  its  miraculous  interpo- 
sition which  had  indicated  their  commission. 

The  cooperating  action  of  the  agent  and  subject, 
inseparable  from  all  spiritual  duties,  can  never  be 
absent  from  the  ministerial  commission.  The  living 
voice  could  not  be  the  appointed  channel  of  success- 
ful truth,  were  not  the  sympathetic  power  of  the 
speaker  intended  to  imbue  that  truth.  Now,  as 

this  power  and  that  truth  can  perfectly  combine 
^2 


16 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


only  under  a heavenly  impulse  on  the  heart,  the 
sacred  functionary  can  never  dispense  with  it.  It 
is,  then,  not  the  miraculous,  apostolic  call  here  to 
be  investigated;  but  that  common  to  the  holy  office 
in  all  ages  of  the  Church  since  that  of  miracles 
expired. 

Our  text  may  suggest  the  matter , manner , and 
object  of  preaching,  together  with  circumstantial 
indications  of  the  times  and  places  of  our  ministry. 
But  the  occasion  will  restrict  our  attention  to  the 
CALL  and  PIOUS  qualifications  of  the  ministry. 

Permit  me,  then,  my  young  ministerial  brethren, 
earnestly  to  address  this  discourse  to  you  in  the 
order  here  indicated,  begging  your  special  atten- 
tion, 

I.  To  THE  Minister’s  Call. 

The  topic  chosen  is  too  broad  a subject  for 
thorough  investigation  in  a single  sermon.  The 
elucidation  of  a few  points  involved  in  it  is  all 
at  which  this  attempt  can  aim. 

In  discussing  the  ministerial  call  to  the  sacred 
office,  attention  will  first  be  directed  to  some  of  the 
prerequisites  to  that  call. 

That  personal  experience  of  regenerating  grace 
sustains  to  it  such  a relation  ought  here  to  be  as- 
sumed. The  refining  power  of  Christian  truth  on 
the  moral  man  has  been  accredited  by  so  many  ages 
as  now  to  claim  the  position  of  an  adjudicated  ques- 
tion. Nor  can  it  require  profound  research  to  per- 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


17 


ceive  tliat  no  power  in  the  universe  can  bring  an 
unchanged  heart  into  harmony  with  a single  element 
of  the  ministerial  character.  Every  demand  of  that 
character  would  be  on  a class  of  emotions  of  which 
such  a heart  had  never  been  the  subject.  Indeed, 
the  statement  is  not  too  sweeping  which  asserts 
every  thing  to  be  indispensable  to  the  ministerial 
character  which  is  essential  to  the  Christian  char- 
acter. Between  these  two  characters  exists  the 
relation  of  species  and  genus.  The  ministerial 
must  be  adorned  with  every  supernatural  charac- 
teristic of  the  Christian,  while  this  is  without  a 
single  one  which  is  peculiar  to  the  ministerial. 
Though  personal  piety,  then,  is  no  part  of  the 
minister’s  character,  no  agency  in  the  universe  can 
make  him  a minister  without  such  piety.  It  is  a 
Divine  maxim,  of  ever-enduring  force,  that  “the 
blind  can  never  lead  the  blind”  without  periling 
the  safety  of  both. 

Another  prerequisite  to  the  ministerial  office  is  a 
fervid  desire  for  the  world's  salvation.  This  is  one 
of  the  phenomena  of  that  new  character  with  which 
regeneration  adorns  its*subject.  It  is  the  legitimate 
emanation  of  that  pure  fountain  unsealed  by  the 
Infinite  Spirit  in  the  renewed  heart.  But,  though 
this  new-born  ofispring  of  regeneration  is  never 
absent  when  that  saving  change  occurs,  yet  there 
is  no  indemnity,  in  the  structure  of  the  mind  or  in 
the  grace  it  experiences,  against  the  v/aste  of  its 
intensity.  The  perpetuity  of  this  desire,  in  its 


18 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


original  vigor,  depends  on  other  conditions.  These 
must  be  fulfilled  with  fidelity,  or  the  heart  of  the 
man  and  the  functions  of  the  minister  will  become 
the  fiercest  antagonisms.  This  desire,  then,  which 
is  the  instant  offspring  of  renewing  grace — which 
emerges  from  the  changed  heart  like  a star  from 
the  depths  of  heaven — can  never  cool  in  its  ardor 
without  becoming  a disqualification  for  the  sacred 
office.  It  was  the  flame  of  this  desire  in  ^ which 
dying  love  expressed  itself  on  Calvary.  It  is  im- 
possible the  disciple  should  be  so  unlike  his  Lord  as 
not  to  kindle  into  kindred  emotion.  But  if,  from 
its  very  nature,  this  be  inseparable  from  Christian 
experience,  how  can  it  be  dispensed  with  in  minis- 
terial functions?  Though  this  desire  does  not  make 
the  minister,  he  can  not  be  made  without  it.  Be- 
longing to  every  disciple,  male  and  female,  through 
the  whole  range  of  Christendom,  how  can  he  be 
without  it  whose  office  is  to  fan  it  to  an  intenser 
flame?  The  mightiest  throbbings  of  a Savior’s  love 
is  a fundamental  qualification  for  the  Savior’s  work. 

The  sufiiciency  of  an  agent’s  qualifications  can  be 
adequately  tested  only  by  their  correspondence  to 
the  functions  assigned  him.  The  minister’s  work 
lies  in  two  distinct  spheres  of  probational  mind — in 
the  emotional  and  intellectual  departments.  Such 
is  the  moral  nature  of  our  species  as  to  be  the  thea- 
ter of  all  religious  experience.  Without  this  nature 
all  felt  religion  would  be  as  impossible  to  us  as  to 
the  time-pieces  we  wear.  And  as  the  demands  and 


THE  MINISTEEIAL  CALL. 


19 


processes  of  our  moral  powers  can  be  known  only 
experimentally,  how  can  the  minister  cultivate  this 
only  strictly-religious  field  in  the  universe  without 
having  had  it  cultivated  in  himself?  By  no  possi- 
bility can  moral  nature,  moral  truth,  and  moral 
government  be  severed,  or  substituted,  or  trans- 
posed. It  is  to  the  moral  universe  that  the  minis- 
ter’s high  commission  chiefly  relates  him;  and  as 
the  richest  class  of  this  order  of  truth  is  experi- 
mental— that  to  which  all  other  truths  look  for- 
ward— the  minister’s  pious  affections  should  be  the 
last  in  his  whole  emotional  nature  remaining  dor- 
mant. But  the  depth,  extent,  and  growth  of  his 
piety  mu»t  be  exhibited  elsewhere. 

Another  preparative  to  the  ministerial  call  is 
found  in  a preparation  in  nature  — an  inherited 
power  of  communicating  truth  connectedly.  The 
requisitions  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  ministry  clearly 
involve  this  ability:  bishop  must  be  apt  to 

teach” — must  have  the  power  to  communicate  to 
others  what  himself  has  learned.  This  capability 
may  be  wanting  in  the  presence  of  other  very  rich 
mental  endowments;  the  ability  of  clear  perception, 
vigorous  judgment,  and  of  powerful  reflective  en- 
ergies, may  b^  present,  while  that  is  absent.  The 
sacred  office  demands  this,  while  it  can  not  dispense 
with  those.  The  minister  must  be  able  to  transfer 
to  other  minds  the  thoughts  of  his  own — to  make 
his  conceptions  theirs,  and  thus  open  the  channels 
through  which  his  own  emotions  shall  become  the 


20 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


property  of  other  bosoms.  We  not  unfrequently 
meet  with  a mind  capable  of  molding  its  desires 
into  words,  of  appropriately  expressing  isolated  facts, 
or  of  stating  a simple  conclusion,  but  capable  of 
going  no  further.  Such  a min'd  can  not  retrace  the 
steps  by  which  it  reached  the  conclusion;  the  very 
attempt  issues  in  confusion;  the  longer  it  is  con- 
tinued the  darker  the  chaos;  every  struggle  en- 
hances the  perplexity,  till  utter  gloom  involves  the 
whole.  How  could  such  an  intellect  reason?  How 
could  it  communicate  thought  consecutively?  How, 
without  logical  discernment,  could  it  wield  logical 
argument?  How  could  it  instruct,  by  public  ad- 
dress, without  the  power  of  laying  hold  on  the  con- 
necting principle  which  gives  unity  to  a discourse — 
without  ability  to  trace  the  links  of  that  -chain 
which  binds  the  exordium  to  the  sermon,  and  the 
sermon  to  the  conclusion — without  that  perceptive 
power  which  can  place  thought  in  such  order  as  to 
give  it  ever-growing  strength?  A mind,  deeply 
stamped  with  this  logical  destitution,  can  never 
have  been  divinely  summoned  to  the  ministerial 
office.  Still  must  we  cautiously  discriminate  be- 
tween this  destitution  being  real  and  only  apparent. 
Many  a mind  of  "superior  logical  strength  at  first 
appeared  invested  with  no  such  element.  This 
power  was  there,  though  not  disclosed;  education 
developed  it.  The  mind  itself  may  have  been  un- 
aware of  its  presence ; it  may  have  eluded  the 
scrutiny  of  associates  till  rigid  discipline  or  some 


THE  MINISTEEIAL  CALL. 


21 


stirring  event  roused  it  from  slumber,  and  quick- 
enec^  it  into  action.  Never  should  the  candidate  be 
prematurely  disheartened,  or  rashly  rejected.  In- 
domitable efforts,  made  in  the  spirit  of  self-reliance 
and  God-reliance,  wield  all  but  a creating  power; 
they  have  elicited,  from  the  unknown  depths  of  ap- 
parently barren  minds,  faculties  which  have  enriched 
the  treasures  of  thought,  and  adorned  the  age  that 
gave  them  birth.  Never,  therefore,  till  the  most 
resolute,  untiring  efforts  have  proved  fruitless, 
should  the  candidate  relinquish  the  hope  of  suc- 
cess. But  when  the  logical  power  can  be  evoked 
by  no  amount  of  perseverance,  let  him  know  as- 
suredly that  the  work  of  the  pulpit  has  not  been 
divinely  intrusted  to  him. 

Other  arguments,  to  enforce  the  importance  of 
this  qualification  to  the  ministry,  are  superseded  by 
the  inspired  direction  given  to  Timothy,  to  commit 
what  he  had  learned  to  faithful  men,  who  should 
be  able  to  instruct  others.”  Indeed,  this  ability  to 
communicate  truth  instructively  is  involved  in  al- 
most every  Scriptural  reference  to  the  sacred  func- 
tions. These  are  comprehensively  included  in  that 
primary  commission,  ^^Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations.” 
This  high  command  could  never  be  executed  by 
proclaiming  unconnected  facts,  or  stating  isolated 
truths,  or  solitary  conclusions.  To  teach  the  Gospel 
scheme  is  to  communicate  connected,  systematic 
truths — to  exhibit  it  in  its  relations,  demands,  and 
purposes. 


22 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


The  very  structure  of  the  human  mind  prohibits 
a narrower  import  to  the  great  commission.  All 
the  intellectual  laws  demand  the  systematizing  of 
truth,  to  replenish  the  mind  with  knowledge.  Why 
else  would  all  classes  seekA^uth  in  the  broad  field 
of  analogy,  in  the  transpiring  events  of  Providence, 
and  in  the  history  of  departed  generations?  Why 
else  is  no  mind  satisfied  in  the  knowledge  of  a fact 
cut  off  from  all  its  relations?  Or  why  should  every 
thing  that  presents  itself  to  man  do  so  in  the  form 
of  a system^  so  that  no  event  in  the.  compass  of 
thought  can  ever  be  found  alone?  Why  should  all 
the  mental  faculties  be  related  for  systematic  opera- 
tion, and  all  the  physical  and  moral  worlds  be  cor- 
respondently  constructed,  and  yet  the  sublime  truths 
of  the  pulpit  not  be  so  taught? 

In  accordance  with  these  unmistakable  indications 
is  the  most  familiar  experience.  That  determines 
truth  to  be  powerful,  other  things  being  equal,  as 
its  parts  are  connected;  this  is  so  subjectively  and 
objectively  — to  the  speaker  and  to  the  auditor  — to 
the  mind  that  apprehends  it  and  to  the  listener  that 
hears  it.  Each  moral  truth,  composing  a series, 
may  be  very  insufiicient  in  its  evidence,  and  yet 
that  evidence  become  resistless  when  converged 
from  every  part  of  that  series  to  one  focal  point. 
Now,  this  inherent  susceptibility  of  moral  truth, 
of  receiving  accumulating  evidence,  and  this  mental 
structure  demanding  such  combination,  decide  for- 
ever the  demand  on  the  ministerial  instructor,  and 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


23 


give  profounder  emphasis  to  the  apostolic  requisition, 
that  he  must  be  able,  to  instruct  others'' 

Now,  this  power,  in  its  germinant  state,  to  grasp 
and  communicate  truth,  classified  in  the  form  of 
principle,  is  never  the  gift  of  education  or  of  mira- 
cle, but  of  nature;  it  is  not  acquired^  but  inherited. 
The  office  of  discipline  is  not  to  originate,  but  to 
cultivate  — not  to  create,  but  to  improve.  This 
preparation  in  nature  is  one  of  the  preparatives  to 
the  sacred  office. 

The  intellectual  attainments  indispensable  to  the 
office  are  not  added  to  this  list — not  because  they 
are  to  be  supplied  or  superseded  by  miracles,  but 
because  they  are  afterward  attainable.  Who,  with- 
out a perverted  view,  can  deem  the  ministerial  call 
entirely  retrospective,  touching  this  class  of  quali- 
fications? Why  should  Providence,  in  this  case, 
depart  from  all  analogy  to  the  usual  mode  of  its 
operations?  Why  should  it  not  conspire  with  grace 
to  give  the  candidate  indications  of  his  future  work 
as  an  incentive  to  present  preparation?  It  is  the 
fact  that  adequate  faculties  have  been  inherited,  and 
not  the  extent  to  which  culture  has  unfolded  them, 
which  is  preparatory  to  the  call. 

But  let  us  inquire, 

II.  In  what  the  Call  to  the  Ministry  con- 
sists ? 

When  the  pulpit  is  viewed  in  the  grandeur  of  its 

purposes — to  secure  the  conversion  or  seal  the  per- 

3 


24 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


dition  of  the  race — its  occupant  can  not  be  deemed 
an  uncommissioned  agent.  Were  he,  like  King 
Uzziah,  to  enter  the  house  of  God  an  unaccredited 
priest,  he  would  be  in  danger  of  going  out,  like 
him,  a perpetual  leper. 

Ages  there  have  been  of  fearful  midnight  gloom, 
which  have  sought  the  basis  of  the  ministerial  voca- 
tion in  the  monstrous  fable  of  prelatical  succession. 
This  utter  blindness,  which  confounded  the  institu- 
tion of  Aaron  with  that  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
can  not  long  hold  its  ground  against  that  exegetical 
movement  which  is  now  unfolding  the  dispensations 
of  God.  Nor  can  the  imposition  of  consecrating 
hands,  any  more  than  lineal  descent,  constitute  the 
ministerial  call;  on  knaves  and  novices  such  hands 
have  been  laid  — on  such  as  were  wolves  and  not 
shepherds.  It  is  true  there  is  a large  sense  in 
which  Christian  truth  may  be  taught  by  all  its 
votaries  as  unrestrictedly  as  science  and  literature; 
but  this  license  amounts  not  to  ministerial  authority. 
For  reasons  abounding  in  the  Scriptures  God  desig- 
nates, anoints,  authorizes  his  ministers.  Though 
every  peculiarity  of  the  Levitical  and  prophetical 
offices  has  vanished  with  their  departed  dispensa- 
tion, the  general  principle  underlying  their  appoint- 
ment still  remains,  and  can  never  lose  its  force 
while  the  existing  ordinances  of  the  Church  endure. 
Because  the  institute  of  Aaron  perished  in  his  great 
antitype,  and  the  prophetic  office  found  its  grave  in 
the  completion  of  the  sacred  canon,  we  by  no  means 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


25 


infer  the  abolition  of  the  great  appointing  princi- 
ple— that  by  which  God  designates,  and  has  ever 
designated,  chosen  men  for  sacred  offices.  Another 
modification  occurred,  in  the  application  of  this 
principle,  when  the  hand  of  miracles  was  withdrawn 
from  the  Church.  That  there  is  nothing  in  the  re- 
lations between  the  human  mind  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  precluding  their  direct  intercourse,  religion, 
under  all  dispensations,  directly  assumes.  For  ages 
that  voiceless  instructor  communicated  ideas  with 
all  the  force  and  precision  of  the  most  expressive 
language.  The  completion  of  the  sacred  volume 
was  the  termination  of  this  kind  of  inspiration,  but 
not  of  all  inspiration.  Though  it  has  recorded  in 
that  volume  all  the  divine  instructions  needful  for 
the  race,  it  has  not  imparted  all  the  influence  need- 
ful for  the  application  of  those  truths.  Its  former 
functions  were  to  communicate  truths  which  should 
guide  the  faith  of  coming  generations;  its  latter  to 
move  men  experimentally  to  embrace  that  truth, 
and  ministerially  to  proclaim  it.  In  ecclesiastical 
language,  it  makes  men  feel  ^Ghat  they  are  in- 
wardly moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon 
them  the  sacred  office.” 

This  profound  impression  on  the  candidate’s  heart, 
urging  him  to  the  ministerial  work,  is  an  indispens- 
able element  of  the  ministerial  call.  . This  may  never 
amount  to  that  intellectual  communion  between  the 
mind  and  the  Spirit  which  would  furnish  the  former 
new  thoughts,  clothed  in  appropriate  words;  it  may 


26 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


never  add  a single  idea  to  liis  previous  store  of 
thought,  or  a solitary  word  before  unknown  to  him, 
and  yet  find  ample  scope  in  his  other  faculties  to 
impart  the  ministerial  call. 

The  Spirit's  function  is  not  to  impart  to  the  man 
a message,  but  to  prompt  him  to  proclaim  that 
which  is  as  old  as  the  Gospel;  not  to  teach  him 
what  to  say,  but  to  incite  him  to  reiterate  what  has 
been  sounding  through  all  the  ages  of  our  era. 

Our  mental  range  is  far  too  limited  to  allow  of 
‘our  restricting  the  Spirit's  agency  on  the  human 
mind.  As  we  have  no  beam  of  light  to  guide  our 
researches  into  the  manner  of  its  operations,  we 
must  be  content  with  the  evidence  of  facts,  viewed 
in  the  light  of  consistency.  All  we  dare  to  assert 

is,  that  it  never  reveals  to  the  individual  ministerial 
mind  what  it  has  revealed  to  the  Church  in  the 
sacred  canon;  that  it  never  suspends,  infracts,  or 
inverts  the  mental  laws;  that  it  never  employs  the 
intellect  to  feel,  or  the  sensibilities  to  think,  or 
either  to  determine,  but  acts  on  the  mind  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  constitution  which  God  has  given 

it.  As  by  this  very  structure  the  whole  region  of 
the  intellect  and  sensibilities  is  passive,  the  Infinite 
Agent  can  act  on  them  to  any  extent  without  im- 
pinging on  the  ground  of  responsibility.  His  agency, 
then,  on  the  minister's  mind,  can  be  restricted,  only 
by  previous  revelation,  and  by  the  divine  purposes 
of  the  ministerial  call.  How  much  the  intellect  is 
implicated  in  this  sacred  impulse  on  the  feelings  no 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


27 


attempt  is  made  to  determine;  all  that  is  asserted 
is,  that  the  ministerial  call  is  never  without  this 
impulse.  His  duty  must  be  a felt  duty;  the  in- 
tensity of  feeling  will  graduate  the  vigor  with  which 
it  will  be  achieved.  To  the  commissioned  herald, 
that  inspired  inquiry,  ^^How  shall  they  preach  ex- 
cept they  be  sent?’'  is  loaded  with  significancy. 
He  knows  that  being  sent  implies  more  than  the 
consecrating  imposition  of  human  hands — more  than 
ravishing  conceptions  of  revealed  truth — more  than 
a burning  desire  for  man's  moral  rescue;  that  while 
it  implies  all  these,  it  implies  something  more  than 
these:  it  implies  that  more  than  man  or  angel  has 
indicated  his  duty — that  God  has  mysteriously  com- 
muned with  him  by  an  impulse  adapted  to  the  in- 
spection of  consciousness,  but  not  to  the  expression 
of  words. 

In  harmony  with  this  private  indication  of  duty 
will  be  the  public  recognition  of  the  Church.  In 
this  regard  the  first  age  of  the  ministry  was  unlike 
any  after  age.  From  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the 
incipient  ministry  of  the  apostles  was  independent 
of  the  Church,  which  as  yet  had  not  an  ecclesias- 
tical existence;  it,  of  course,  could  have  no  part  in 
creating  that  agency  which  was  afterward  to  give  it 
existence.  But,  as  the  nature  of  this  necessity  could 
allow  it  only  a temporary  existence,  the  first  state 
of  the  ministry  could  be  no  criterion  for  its  per- 
manent guide.  While  the  Divine  Founder  of  the 
Church  was  present  in  person,  all  authority  of  the 


28 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


Church  in  recognizing  the  ministry  was  superseded. 

Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature,”  endowed  them  with  plenary 
authority.  It  made  the  functions  of  the  ministry 
personally  binding  on  them;  they  demanded  of  men 
a recognition  of  their  official  character  by  virtue  of 
this  authority  which  had  invested  them.  But  when 
the  opened  heavens  had  received  the  Master  from 
his  disciples,  and  those  whom  he  had  in  person 
commissioned  had  finished  their  ministry,  new  re- 
lations sprang  up  between  the  Church  and  the  min- 
istry. When  that  radiant  age  of  plenary  inspiration 
had  rolled  away  — when  the  heavenly  voices  and 
visions  were  over — the  ministerial  authority  ceased 
to  come  miraculously  from  Heaven,  but  that  office 
required  the  approving  voice  of  the  Church.  This 
is  not  inverting  the  order  in  which  these  relations 
were  first  established,  but  greatly  modifying  it:  the 
dependence  of  the  ministry  on  the  Church,  in  other 
respects,  requires  it  should  need  the  confirmatory 
voice  of  the  Church.  As  no  ministry  could  long 
advance,  in  the  prosecution  of  its  aggressive  com- 
mission, without  support  from  the  treasury  and 
countenance  from  the  Church,  that  body  must 
either  sustain  every  pretender  to  a divine  mis- 
sion, or  have  a controlling  agency  in  determining 
who  has  received  it. 

In  pressing  the  necessity  of  this  ecclesiastical 
recognition,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  It  is 
not  affirmed  that  this  is,  in  all  possible  circum- 


THE  MINISTEEIAL  CALL. 


29 


stances,  indispensable.  In  the  days  of  general  apos- 
tasy, large  divisions  of  the  nominal  Church  may  be 
so  utterly  void  of  vitality  as  to  reject  the  applicant 
for  its  approval  on  the  very  ground  that  he  pos- 
sesses divine  qualifications.  An  example  of  this  is 
found  in  almost  every  great  reformer,  and  in  the 
noblest  sufferers  at  the  stake;  such  should  ^^obey 
Grod  rather  than  man.’'  They  should  cooperate 
with  the  Infinite  Spirit,  though  not  recognized  by 
a single  voice  on  earth.  They  should  do  it  in  the 
light  of  the  kindled  fagots,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
thunders  of  priestly  anathemas.  Even  then  should 
they  advance  with  an  intrepid  step,  unawed  by  the 
most  fearful  blow  impending  to  crush  them. 

But  though  it  is  a sublime  virtue  of  the  most 
gifted  spirits  to  thus  toil  against  the  interdict  of  a 
fallen  Church  in  the  face  of  consuming  flames,  it 
furnishes  no  justification  for  neglecting  the  voice  of 
the  Church  when  that  body  is  in  its  ordinary  purity. 
In  this  state  the  ministry,  as  the  messengers  of  the 
Church,  should  await  its  solemn  behest;  it  should 
deem  her  voice  in  harmony  with  God’s  command. 

Such  is  the  person’s  divine  impulse  to  the  min- 
istry that  a direct  knowledge  of  it  is  entirely  con- 
fined to  his  own  consciousness.  But  while  this 
inward  knowledge  of  his  call  can  belong  only  to 
himself  in  its  very  workings,  indications  of  its 
reality  will  appear  to  others;  the  impulse  felt  in 
himself  is  felt  through  him  to  others.  Though  this 
high  charge  was  privately  committed  to  his  trust. 


I 

30  LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 

yet,  like  any  other  deep-seated  principle,  its  work- 
ings put  the  fact  in  the  possession  of  the  public. 
That  profound  impression  of  connected  truth'  made 
on  his  faculties  will  unavoidably  be  self-revealing. 
His  communication  of  consecutive  truths,  bathed  in 
the  radiancy  in  which  his  own  spirit  is  kindled, 
will  never  permit  his  call  to  remain  a secret.  The 
Church  will  know  it,  earth  and  heaven  will  know 
it,  and,  except  in  the  dark  hour  of  Satanic  assault, 
no  doubt  of  it  will  ever  shade  his  own  mind. 
Nothing  can  be  transferred  which  is  not  possessed. 
As  in  lithography  the  stone  can  impart  no  impres- 
sion till  it  has  received  it,  so  is  it  in  the  speaker’s 
communications  to  other  minds;  he  can  no  more  fail 
to  transfer  his  own  emotions  than  he  can  kindle 
them  in  other  bosoms  when  they  are  not  in  his  own. 
It  is  this  state  of  commissioned  mind  which  makes 
it  desire  the  office  of  a bishop;”  it  desires  the 
office,  not  the  title  of  a bishop,  not  the  emolument 
of  a bishop,  not  the  lordly  sway  of  a bishop,  but 
the  hazardous  work,  the  strenuous  toil  of  a bishop. 
Its  aim  will  be  immeasurably  higher  than  what  glit- 
ters before  the  eye  of  vanity,  or  cupidity,  or  am- 
bition; for  these  that  mind  pants  with  an  eagerness 
unknown  even  in  the  fiery  chase  of  ambition.  It  is 
no  more  possible  that  a message  could  come  from 
such  a heart,  without  revealing  the  truthfulness  of 
its  source,  than  that  the  light  of  noon  should  be 
self-concealing.  It  is  never  perplexing  to  determ- 
ine whether  the  minister  performs  his  work  as 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


31 


the  patient  enters  on  his  course  of  medicine,  deem- 
ing it  a less  evil  than  the  disease  which  it  is  to 
vanquish;  or  whether  he  does  it,  as  the  hungry 
take  food,  with  the  intensest  appetite.  No,  the 
kindled  thoughts  on  fire  within  him  will  move  his 
lips  to  powerful  utterance.  The  majesty  of  his 
theme  will  be  his  inspiration;  the  vision  of  eternal 
realities  which  has  burst  on  his  view  makes  the 
sphere  of  his  conceptions  too  bright  to  allow  the 
hearers  to  doubt  of  his  commission.  The  Church 
needs  no  art  of  the  casuist  to  settle  the  question  of 
his  call;  this  is  readily  adjudicated  on  the  authority 
of  infallible  signs.  It  will  appear  in  every  truth 
that  leaps  from  his  opened  lips  in  public;  so  that 
the  divine  voice  which  called  him  sounds  through 
him,  calling  the  Church  to  a recognition  of  his 
commission ; and,  in  accrediting  him,  the  voice 
from  earth  harmonizes  with  that  from  heaven. 

Your  attention  is  next  directed, 

III.  To  THE  Devotedness  required  by  the 
Ministerial  Vocation. 

^ The  conviction  of  the  holiness  of  this  calling  has 
never  been  the  peculiarity  of  one  age.  It  has  swept 
over  all  ages;  its  antiquity  is  higher  than  that  of 
the  sanctification  of  Aaron’s  sons;  it  runs  back  to 
the  mysterious  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  who 
met  and  blessed  the  fathers  of  the  faithful.  The 
basis  of  this  all-pervading  conviction  lies  deep  in 
the  recognized  nature  of  the  office.  No  degree  of 


32 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


devotion  corresponds  to  its  nature  but  that  which 
is  supreme — that  which  excludes  all  motives  which 
would  rival  the  love  of  Christ.  To  the  choice  of 
other  professions  men  may  fitly  be  incited  by  the 
combination  of  various  motives ; but  this  would 
vitiate  the  ministerial  office.  That  office  excludes 
professional  eminence,  greater  emolument,  higher 
social  connections,  facilities  to  the  pursuits  of  litera- 
ture, and  whatever  else  may  be  secular  in  its  char- 
acter. All  these,  as  leading  incentives,  are  abso- 
lutely excluded  from  the  holy  office.  The  minister’s 
work  is  the  work  of  Grod;  to  perform  it,  therefore, 
from  any  of  these  motives  can  not  make  it  some- 
thing else;  but  it  would  make  his  character  some- 
thing else,  and  thus  abolish  all  correspondence  be- 
tween the  office  and  the  officer.  The  master-spring 
to  ministerial  character  is  faith;  the  motive,  there- 
fore, for  assuming  it  must  be  within  the  unseen 
territory  of  faith.  Cecil  arranges  these  incentives 
into  three  classes:  the  rush  of  thousands  in  the 
gulf  of  flame — the  Restorer’s  dying  love  for  their 
rescue — the  appointment  of  ministerial  instrument- 
ality to  make  that  love  availing.  These  compre- 
hend a minister’s  incentives — ^^a  fourth  idea  would 
be  a grand  impertinence.” 

If  entire  devotion  to  Christ’s  work  involves  un- 
qualified submission  to  his  will,  then  does  it  exclude 
all  mixed  motives,  all  conflicting  motives,  and  all 
suspension  of  holy  motives.  It  requires  obedience 
to  what  Christ  has  commanded,  in  the  manner  he 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


33 


has  commanded,  and  because  he  has  commanded  it. 
His  complete  submission  to  his  Father's  will  is  the 
never-changing  pattern  for  his  servants’  obedience; 
his  mind  must  be  in  them.  The  conviction  of  this 
has  the  certainty  of  an  intuitive  flash — the  strength 
of  a first  principle — a power  transcending  demon- 
stration. How  is  it  possible  to  doubt  whether  the 
same  Spirit  which  wrought  man’s  redemption  by 
price  must  imbue  those  instruments  of  his  redemp- 
tion by  power? 

It,  then,  has  the  clearness  of  vision  that  but  one 
class  of  ministerial  motives  can  be  paramount;  all 
others  competing  for  this  rank  are  antagonistic. 

But  how  shall  we  fairly  test  our  motives  for  be- 
coming ministers  ? Who  has  ever  attempted  to 
analyze  these  ethereal  states  in  their  light  and  flying 
shades'  without  finding  them  eluding  the  most  pierc- 
ing eye  of  introspection  ? Here  is  a demand  for  the 
severest  scrutiny.  Ho  amount  of  mere  emotion  can 
be  a safe  test.  This  may  be  nimble  and  changeful 
as  Summer  gales;  it  may  be  dark  and  strong  as  the 
Winter  storm,  and  yet  act  only  on  the  soul’s  surface. 
The  inner  man,  seated  far  deeper,  may  remain  in 
untroubled  repose.  Low  down  in  the  depths  of  our 
nature  are  often  the  hiding-places  of  our  motives. 
How  shall  they  be  evoked,  and  placed  fully  before 
the  inspecting  eye?  Not  by  supposing  what  para- 
gons we  should  be — what  Godlike  deeds  we  should 
achieve,  were  scope  given  to  our  pent-up  moral 
energies;  not  by  gilding  our  future  career  by  the 


34 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


creative  lights  of  fancy.  Our  relation  to  the  future 
renders  our  coming  character  a contingency.  The 
hero  that  vaunts  in  the  fireside  circle  is  not  the  last 
to  exhibit  the  coward  on  the  grim  edge  of  battle. 
The  moral  splendor  of  future  achievements  is  not 
unfrequently  ^Hhe  stuff  of  which  dreams  are  made.’' 
That  noble  daring,  that  lofty  self-sacrifice  on  which 
we  purpose  in  future,  may  vanish  like  the  sleeper’s 
vision  when  the  future  becomes  the  present.  The 
living  present  can  never  be  apart  from  the  true  test 
of  character.  The  only  pertinent  question  is,  What 
am  I now  ? This  searching  inquiry  should  pass  like 
lightning  through  all  the  attitudes  and  relations  of 
my  present  character.  Do  I now  live  disinterest- 
edly? Is  my  strenuous  toil  for  others?  Do  I now 
value  human  salvation  above  human  applause?  Do 
I now  act  for  Christ  as  though  the  whole  universe 
contained  not  another  incentive  to  action?  Does 
this  master  principle,  which  absorbs  itself  in  the 
endless  good  of  others,  now  absorb  every  living 
power  of  my  being?  The  prospective  existence  of 
these  states  can  never  be  confounded  with  their 
present  existence.  That  bright  future  may  be 
peopled  only  with  the  creatures  of  a fancy-loving 
brain. 

But  not  only  may  our  imaginary  selves  in  future 
dangerously  misguide  us,  but  our  former  selves  may 
be  an  equally  deceptive  standard.  What  has  a re- 
membered consciousness  of  self-consecration  to  do 
with  a present  consciousness  of  it  ? This  substitu- 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL. 


35 


tion  is  full  of  peril;  it  is  the  assumption  of  the  im- 
mutability of  human  goodness,  the  truth  of  which  is 
disproved  by  the  most  significant  pages  of  man’s 
moral  history.  It  is  disproved  by  the  most  start- 
ling gleams  of  light  which  have  broken  in  on  angelic 
history.  The  terrified  universe  may  know  that  an- 
gels have  sunk  into  devils — that  the  first  human  son 
of  Divine  love  became  a child  of  God’s  wrath. 

After  these  events,  at  first  so  strange,  how  can 
the  mutability  of  human  character  be  incumbered 
with  a shadow  of  doubt?  How  often,  in  later  rec- 
ords of  the  most  eminent  piety,  has  ^Ghe  gold 
changed  and  the  fine  gold  become  dim !”  How 
many  a noble  heart  in  the  brightest  array  of  Christ’s 
servants,  under  the  sway  of  motives  which  would 
honor  an  angel,  has  been  mysteriously  transmuted 
into  directly  the  opposite ! How  fatal,  then,  the 
fallacy  of  reasoning  from  the  past  to  the  present, 
in  the  belief  that  this  heavenly  grace  grows  in  the 
heart  like  the  star  lighted  up  in  heaven,  without 
being  fanned  by  the  eternal  breath  that  kindled  its 
fires ! All  should  know  that  this  supernatural  glow 
in  the  heart  is  enduring  only  as  it  is  perpetually 
fed  by  the  oil  of  grace.  The  danger  of  this  divine 
change  is  measured  by  the  fierceness  of  the  moral 
conflict.  The  divine  oracles  speak  of  this  probation- 
ary struggle  with  startling  emphasis.  They  call  it 
an  agony  to  be  endured — a race  to  be  run — a battle 
to  be  fought — an  antagonist  to  be  vanquished.  They 
pronounce  the  conflict  to  be  with  ^^principalities 


36 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


and  powers/'  and  assume  the  certainty  of  the  field 
being  lost  unless  we  are  guarded  with  the  panoply 
of  God^  and  our  vigilance  he  sleepless. 

In  this  high  conflict  the  soul  must  often  fall  back 
on  those  profound  principles,  familiarity  with  which 
consists  only  in  a deep  insight  into  those  viewless 
motives  which  are  furthest  from  the  careless  eye. 
Should  some  ethereal  historian  depict  what  has 
transpired  in  the  hearts  of  God’s  most  eminent  serv- 
ants, nothing  would  so  arrest  us  as  an  exact  cor- 
respondence between  the  depth  of  their  agony  and 
the  glory  of  their  ministry.  The  severity  of  their 
conflict  would  be  the  measure  of  their  success. 
Both  Testaments  are  replete  with  illustrations  of 
this  principle ; nor  are  they  wanting  in  the  recorded 
experiences  of  God’s  most  eminent  ministers  in  after 
ages. 

What  one  function  belongs  to  the  ministerial  office 
not  demanding  the  deepest  spirituality?  The  whole 
character  calls  for  a high  controlling  piety — a living, 
energetic,  all-conquering  piety — one  that  imbues  the 
heart,  the  life,  the  studies,  the  habits,  the  whole 
man.  This  principle  must  sway  the  minister  with 
the  power  of  a passion.  He  can  have  no  substitute 
for  this  living,  glowing  spirit — for^a  heart  throb- 
bing and  flaming  with  restoring  love.  Nothing 
else  within  the  compass  of  thought  can  disclose  to 
him  the  soul’s  worth,  or  gird  him  with  power  to 
snatch  it  from  the  gulf;  nor  can  any  thing  else  in- 
vest him  with  that  harmony  of  character  which 


THE  MINISTEEIAL  CALL. 


37 


sheds  the  light  of  consistency  over  all  the  various 
events  of  his  history.  From  his  manner  it  will  put 
to  flight  all  artifice,  all  affectation,  all  assumed  dig- 
nity. It  will  ally  to  him  naturalness,  simplicity, 
earnestness  — the  unaffected  air  of  sublime  philan- 
thropy. The  light  of  assurance  will  never  fade  from 
his  path;  it  will  grow  in  its  intensity  till  it  shall 
reach  the  maturity  of  perfect  day.  He  will  under- 
stand how  the  fact  that  God  has  spoken  involves  the 
obligation  that  man  should  cease  to  doubt. 

This  depth  of  pious  devotion  makes  his  ministry 
more  availing,  also,  by  its  strengthening  operations 
on  his  intellect.  Who  can  number  the  mutations  of 
that  light  which  looms  up  from  earth's  interest? 
Who  knows  not  that  its  bewildering  glare  leads 
millions  to  measures  subversive  of  their  own  aim — 
that  it  is  only  the  beam  which  falls  on  our  path 
from  the  eternal  sun,  which,  like  its  source,  is  never 
changing?  Under  this  influence,  the  sweeping  pur- 
pose of  self-consecration,  bringing  all  the  faculties 
into  continued  and  concentrated  action,  their  utmost 
strength  is  employed.  In  this  simplicity  and  immu- 
tability of  purpose  resides  the  mightiest  executive 
power;  it  is  the  sole  remedy  for  that  blighting  dis- 
ease— fitful  efii^ort.  This  has  extinguished  half  the 
glory  of  the  finest  geniuses  of  the  race.  That 
change  of  pursuit  which  is  the  eclipse  of  the  soul 
has  wasted  the  energies  of  many  a gifted  spirit. 
The  devotion  in  question  is  a security  against  this 
unsteadiness  of  aim,  which  has  scattered  and  baffled 


38 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


those  angel  powers.  Alliance  to  God  is  stability  of 
purpose,  and  this  girds  the  soul  with  the  combined 
strength  of  its  ever-growing  powers.  It  gives  dis- 
tinctness of  aim,  fixedness  of  purpose,  vigor  of  will, 
patience  and  perseverance  in  execution,  and  thus 
does  it  impart  the  utmost  strength  of  character. 
The  soul,  under  the  dominion  of  this  ruling  pur- 
pose, pressing  all  its  faculties  to  bear  on  one  point, 
advances  toward  its  object  with  a momentum  which 
sets  itself  on  fire.  The  conviction  is  ever  upon  it, 
like  an  angel-hand,  that  it  has  one  thing  to  do. 
Toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  it  advances  on 
an  air-line,  under  the  obligation  of  principle,  blended 
with  the  ardor  of  passion. 

It  is  impossible  too  strongly  to  illustrate  the 
truth  that  piety  is  essential  to  the  ministry.  No 
postulate  can  be  clearer — no  truth  more  momentous. 
What  ministry  was  ever  effective,  no  matter  how 
intelligent,  without  strong  faithj  true  spirituality j 
profound  earnestness  ? The  discipline  of  the  heart 
is  even  more  momentous  than  that  of  the  intellect. 
There  is  the  seat  of  impulse,  the  spring  of  energy, 
the  fountain  of  eloquence.  Faith  and  utterance 
vrere  never  disjointed;  the  energy  of  the  one  is  sup- 
plied by  the  power  of  the  other.  ^^We  believe,  and 
therefore  we  speak;”  not  merely  what  we  believe, 
but  as  we  believe.  A weak  believer  was  never  a 
strong  preacher.  Whatever  beauty  and  vigor  may 
be  the  attributes  of  thought,  to  have  power  it  must 
be  bathed  in  the  fire  of  feeling.  Without  this  it 


I 


THE  MINISTERIAL  CALL.  39 

may  be  the  glitter  of  the  aurora  borealis,  but  never 
the  vivifying  beam  of  the  fervid  noon. 

/ None  of  you,  beloved  pupils,  can  so  misconceive 
the  emphasis  with  which  we  enforce  piety  as  to  im- 
agine we  would  exclude  intelligence.  Your  teach- 
ers are  not  of  those  who  seem  convinced  that  God 
has  more  use  for  our  ignorance  than  for  our  knowl- 
edge. He  could  prosecute  his  work  without  either. 
But  while  it  shall  please  him  to  employ  instrument- 
ality, he  will  do  it  wisely,  adapting  means  to  ends. 
He  never  fitted  sound  for  the  eye,  or  the  light  for 
the  ear,  any  more  than  he  employs  ignorance  to  in- 
struct, or  irreligion  to  promote  piety.  Why  should 
we  impute  to  him  distortion  in  the  moral  system 
while  we  find  the  sweetest  harmony  in  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  physical  system?  or  why  should  we 
rank  ministers  in  the  class  of  mere  instruments 
while  their  great  Master  holds  them  responsible  for 
their  official  fidelity? 

While  we  denounce  dull  formality,  stiff  uniform- 
ity, rigid  routine,  and  pompous  assumptions,  we  no 
less  reprobate  mere  fervor  and  everlasting  repe- 
tition. The  minister's  course  lies  as  remote  from 
the  contortions  of  epileptic  zeal  as  from  the  death- 
like numbness  of  the  paralytic  victim.  It  is  no  more 
adapted  to  the  frenzy  of  the  one  than  to  the  mortal 
calm  of  the  other.  His  is  a glow  which  kindles 
without  crazing  his  powers.  It  makes  him  seize 
with  iniuitive  quickness  on  every  fitting  means,  but 

never  to  substitute  them  for  the  end.  It  makes 

4 


40 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


him  feel  that  he  may  have  too  little  piety,  but  not 
too  much  knowledge — that  had  he  the  lore  of  Bacon, 
the  genius  of  Tully  or  Demosthenes,  still  would  he 
need  the  mantle  of  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  John — he 
would  need  the  ^4ove  of  Christ  constraining  him.” 
And . noWj  my  beloved  brethren^  permit  me,  in 
conclusion,  to  implore  your  most  deep  and  delib- 
erate attention  to  your  sacred  call  and  pious  qual- 
ifications, In  whatever  other  pursuit  you  may  err, 
commit  not  the  fatal  blunder  in  this.  Review  the 
whole  ground  of  your  callj  I beseech  you,  once  more. 
You  have  marked  with  agony  the  inefficient  manner 
in  which  many  a pulpit  is  now  filled.  Instead  of 
piercing,  and  thrilling,  and  agitating  the  listening 
mass,  it  leaves  that  mass  still  stagnant.  While 
you  can  scarcely  suppress  the  apprehension  that 
some  other  voice  than  God’s  has  called  into  such 
pulpits  their  occupants,  resolve,  once  for  all,  that 
you  will  never  swell  their  number — that  you  will 
never  ascend  the  sacred  desk  unbidden — that  no 
earthly  hope  shall  lure  you  to  it — that  you  will  dig, 
or  beg,  or  starve  rather  than  avoid  it  by  choosing 
the  pulpit — rather  than  place  yourself  there  as  a 
chilling  medium  to  congeal  the  stream  of  life  that 
should  flow  to  the  perishing. 


II. 


THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  AGE  IN  THEIR 
DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY: 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  ALUMNI  OF  THE  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE, 
CONCORD,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  NOVEMBER  2,  1854. 


Beloved  Alumni, — We  greet  you,  with  thrilling 
emotions,  from  your  distant  fields  of  labor,  at  this 
former  center  of  our  common  interests.  Though 
we  meet  at  almost  opposite  points  of  our  pilgrim- 
age and  vocation;  though  your  work  has  just  com- 
menced, and  mine  is  almost  accomplished;  though 
your  eye  is  chiefly  on  the  glowing  future,  and  mine 
reverts  to  the  struggles  of  the  past;  these  discrep- 
ancies are  not  out  of  harmony  with  a common  sym- 
pathy. Such  a sympathy  finds  its  basis  in  our 
former  relations.  These  must  be  adequate  to  sup- 
port a mutual  affection  spanning  the  whole  orbit  of 
life,  and  uniting  its  utmost  extremes.  Pure,  tender, 
and  abiding  must  ever  be  those  attachments  having 
birth  in  the  mutual  exchange  of  pious  emotions. 
But  far  surpassing  affection  must  unite  teacher  and 
pupil  whose  researches  have  long  been  directed  to 
the  profound  principles  of  eternal  government.  In 


42 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


such  researches  the  teacher  unavoidably  transfers, 
with  the  truths  he  illustrates,  the  emotions  they 
had  kindled  in  his  own  bosom.  Your  own  hope  of 
rescuing  souls,  by  wielding  the  truth  you  should 
master,  generated  a susceptibility  of  such  emotions. 
This  made  conceptions  vivid,  impressions  deep,  and 
memory  tenacious.  In  this  awakened  state  of  moral 
powers,  how  facile  was  the  transfer  of  that  interest 
felt  in  the  truth  to  Him  who  illustrated  it!  The 
presumption  that  this  principle  has  operated  on  my 
junior  brethren  present  authorizes  a bolder  tone  in 
this  address,  and  precludes  apology  for  what  might 
otherwise  seem  out  of  harmony  with  the  occasion. 
It  can  not  be  unknown  that  the  utmost  effort  of 
the  teacher  to  throw  his  pupils  on  their  own  re- 
sources, to  make  them  self-relying  and  God-relying, 
can  never  prevent  the  transfer  to  them  of  much 
that  is  peculiar  to  himself.  Whatever  is  original 
in  the  mode  of  his  conceptions,  in  the  manner  of 
his  combinations,  and  in  his  imagery  for  illustra- 
tion, will  be  reproduced  in  the  mental  workings  of 
the  confiding  student.  This  mental  affinity  between 
speakers  and  hearers  will  embolden  him,  in  his  ad- 
dress, to  dwell  on  the  Age,  in  view  of  some  of^its 
Chaeacteeistics,  with  eefeeence  to  its  Claims 

ON  THE  MiNISTEY. 

The  time  when  human  agents  enter  on  existence 
can  never  be  an  unimportant  element  in  their  obli- 
gations. Though  their  essential  relations  never 
change,  yet  are  they  strikingly  modified  by  the 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


43 


apathy  or  agitation  which  may  mark  their  times. 
In  the  range  of  human  history  long  periods  have 
elapsed  having  no  character  but  that  of  prepara- 
tives. Then  has  succeeded  that  rush  of  events 
which,  like  the  flashing  light  from  the  gathered 
clouds,  has  followed  the  sleep  of  the  elements. 
Such  is  the  age  in  which  we  are  summoned  to 
act,  and  to  direct  attention  to  mere  specimens  of 
its  characteristics  can  not  be  unimpressive.  Though 
what  is  common  to  all  ages  produces  a larger  surface 
of  human  interest  than  what  is  peculiar  to  any  one 
age,  the  positive  importance  of  the  latter  can  not 
thereby  be  minifled. 

All  periods  of  human  history  have  had  their  cor- 
responding distinctions,  and  to  know  their  signs  is 
incumbent  on  every  minister  who  would  best  serve 
his  generation.  How  can  that  sublime  career  as- 
signed him  be  fully  completed  without  a thrilling 
knowledge  of  what  marks  his  times? 

The  fact  that  the  millions  we  are  appointed  to 
serve  and  save  are  a portion  of  that  same  humanity 
which  departed  ages  have  swept  aside,  offers  no 
reason  against  the  demand  for  new  appliances. 
This  demand  irresistibly  arises  out  of  the  moral 
forces  encompassing  us,  which  were  unknown  to 
priority.  What  can  be  plainer  than  that  an  age 
which  has  elements  of  its  own  must  have  instru- 
ments of  its  own;  must  have  an  agency  adroit  to 
wield  these  elements — to  appropriate  them  to  the 
lofty  aim  to  which  they  intrinsically  point?  What 


44  LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

la»ge  portions  of  an  individuars  history  could  be 
transposed  without  confusion?  No  more  could  the 
periods  of  successive  generations  without  frustrating 
Providential  designs.  In  both  progression  is  the 
strongly-marked  intention  of  the  human  allotment. 
Nor  can  the  student  of  history  doubt  whether,  in  a 
momentous,  sense,  this  has  been  the  working  of  the 
system.  That  delinquent  individuals  and  particular 
communities  have  taken  retrogressive  steps  it  is 
impossible  to  doubt;  but  these  have  so  palpably 
flowed  from  the  perversion  of  the  system  as  to  be 
confirmatory  of  the  onward  tendency  of  all  its  legit- 
imate workings.  That  valuable  portions  of  human 
experiences  and  of  the  inventions  of  genius  have 
fallen  in  oblivion,  along  the  track  of  ages,  we  can 
not  doubt;  but  that  these  were  of  vastly  less  value 
than  accessions  made  to  human  knowledge  is  equally 
certain.  It  were  ungrateful  to  priority  to  question 
the  richness  of  its  bequests  to  the  present  age;  but 
far  richer  still  have  been  the  acquisitions  to  which 
these  bequeathed  treasures  have  introduced  us.  In 
harmony  with  this  great  lesson  of  history  is  that 
taught  by  the  very  structure  of  probationary  mind. 

This  inward  constitution  evinces  that  man’s  obli- 
gations swell  in  their  magnitude  as  ages  accumulate 
in  their  number;  that  with  equal  force  does  the 
principle  apply  to  successive  generations  as  the  mul- 
tiplying years  of  individuals.  Without  intimating 
that  prior  ages  can  not  boast  of  finer  monuments 
of  artistic  taste  than  adorns  the  present  age,  it  is 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


45 


confidently  affirmed  that  they  have  left  no  such 
proofs  of  excellence  in  the  useful  arts  or  in  moral 
enterprise.  These  are  now  at  an  elevation  of  which 
ancestry  had  no  adequate  conception.  Though  Prov- 
idence has  never  ceased  to  aim  at  training  the  human 
intellect  and  affections  for  a nobler  future,  that  aim 
is  now  more  direct,  and  the  moral  forces  employed 
are  now  more  powerful.  It  is  true  that  the  cloudy 
vail  concerning  the  future  can  be  pierced  by  no  eye 
but  Jehovah’s still,  as  his  agency  shapes  events — 
to  whom  there  is  no  past  or  future  — the  study  of 
those  events  is  a substitute  for  that  prophetic  shill 
to  which  the  depths  of  the  future  surrender  their 
secrets.  Every  stirring  event  is  a page  in  the  great 
volume  of  Providence — one  upon  which  we  can  not 
close  our  eyes  without  the  contraction  of  guilt.  As, 
then,  we  ascertain  ^he  intentions  of  God  by  the 
events  which  transpire,  your  attention  is  invited 
to  a few  of  them  as  a specimen  of  those  which 
characterize  our  times.  The  first  will  be  found  in 
the  Profound  Agitation  of  Eastern  Mind  which 

IS  NOW  TRANSPIRING. 

Those  critical  realms  where  the  sun  first  gilded 
the  cradle  of  the  species,  had  long  reposed  in  that 
death-like  stillness  generated  by  that  idealism  which 
allows  to  the  whole  universe  but  a single  agent. 
The  breast  of  those  ancient  nations  on  which  this 
incubus  has  pressed  for  ages  begins  convulsively  to 
heave  by  a secret  power  within.  This  self-agitation, 
shaking  the  mighty  mass,  betrays  an  interior  agency 


46 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


which  can  unfetter  the  tide  of  thought,  and  guide 
itf  fiery  course. 

The  ministerial  mind,  rightly  imbued  with  the 
prophetic  spirit  of  history,  knows  that  this  mighty 
shaking  will  not  be  barren  of  results;  that,  whether 
success  or  failure  shall  be  the  issue  of  the  attempted 
revolution  in  China,  it  must  give  birth  to  events 
by  which  the  nineteenth  century  must  be  deeply 
marked.  How  can  this  breaking  up  of  these  mental 
incrustations — this  fearful  agitation  which  is  crum- 
bling to  dust  the  ancient  gods  of  three  hundred  mil- 
lions— how  can  such  a phenomenon,  which  is  almost 
alone  in  man’s  history,  fail  to  attract  that  scruti- 
nizing eye  of  God’s  servants,  which  reads  the  signs 
of  the  times?  How  can  it  fail  to  stir  in  their 
bosom  a Christian  heart,  which  will  pant  to  leap 
on  that  long-benighted  shore — which  will  yearn  to 
breathe  the  spirit  of  second  life  over  that  moral 
valley  of  bleaching  bones?  Nor  should  these  start- 
ling events  of  the  East  restrict  our  attention  to 
those  early  seats  of  the  race.  Such  as  are  trans- 
piring in  the  Western  realms  of  the  Old  World 
should  be  read  by  God’s  ministers  with  an  eager 
eye. 

Every  age  which  has  removed  European  society 
further  from  that  midnight  hour  of  our  era,  under 
whose  shades  those  institutions  arose,  has  made 
the  incongruity  between  it  and  them  more  chafing. 
It  is  unknown  to  no  acute  observer  that  incipient 
decay  has  long  been  spreading  through  the  secret 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTEY. 


47 


cement  of  Western  civilization.  It  is  utterly  pre- 
posterous to  suppose  human  art  can  longer  adapt 
these  institutions  of  the  Medieval  Age  to  the  society 
of  this  wondrous  century.  All  the  changes  through 
which  these  institutions  have  since  glided  leave 
them  separated  from  the  present  by  an  immense 
chasm.  A reconstruction  of  that  civil  system  is, 
therefore,  inevitable.  Whether  this  shall  be  effected 
by  the  calm  energy  of  legislative  reform — which,  in 
England,  has  so  far  diminished  the  distance  between 
the  extremes  of  society;  or  whether  it  shall  be  ef- 
fected by  the  earthquake-shocks  of  bloody  revolu- 
tion, depends  on  the  sphere  previously  assigned  to 
moral  agencies.  The  hope  is  vain  that  any  civil 
interest  forming  a firm  cement  can  much  longer 
constitute  a uniting  band  which,  like  a common 
heaven,  will  extend  over  the  two  extremes  of  Eu- 
ropean society.  To  bridge  this  fearful  gulf  before 
sanguinary  violence  shall  render  it  impracticable, 
belongs  to  Protestant  Christianity.  Those  great 
powers,  now  on  the  grim  edge  of  battle,  are  not,  as 
formerly,  arrayed  under  their  respective  banners  of 
the  Greek,  Eoman,  and  Protestant  religions.  An 
interest  of  immensely  less  intensity  has  determined 
their  present  position  in  the  hazardous  conflict. 
Whether  the  ardor  of  the  struggle  will  not  dissolve 
this  weaker  cement,  and  resolve  the  long-oppressed 
society  into  its  original  elements,  or  whether  the 
crushing  power  of  despotic  rule  shall  not  have  a 

sterner  sway,  nothing  but  the  unerring  future  can 

5 


48 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


determine.  If  the  former,  then  the  voice  of  human- 
ity, louder  than  the  voice  of  many  waters,  will 
call  for  the  holy  agency  of  religion.  If  the  latter, 
then  a more  fearful  upheaving  is  at  the  door,  and 
that  agency  will  be  charged  with  a still  more 
solemn  trust. 

Nor  can  we  adequately  appreciate  the  charaeter- 
istics  of  our  age  without  surveying  the  New  Woeld. 
Here  are  both  conspiring  and  conflicting  forces  at 
work.  Such  is  their  character  as  to  demand  the 
agency  of  the  pulpit  even  more  than  that  of  the 
legislative  hall.  Some  of  these  forces  are  charged 
with  elements  of  stupendous  energy.  They  must  be 
transmuted  by  religion,  or  be  subversive  of  its  in- 
stitutions; they  must  be  subjects  of  its  blessings, 
or  quench  the  hopes  which  have  been  kindled  at  its 
altar.  The  great  oceans  bathing  our  eastern  and 
western  coasts  are  not,  as  has  been  deemed,  gulfs  to 
separate  us  from  the  degraded  millions  of  the  Old 
World;  they  are  highways  along  which  these  mill- 
ions are  rushing  to  meet  on  this  new  theater  of 
national  probation.  These  representatives  of  more 
than  twenty  nations  streaming  to  the  New  World 
are  invested  with  almost  every  crude  element  of 
character,  and  can  be  rendered  harmless  only  by  a 
hand  of  the  utmost  skill  and  might.  In  the  inten- 
tions of  Providence,  how  unique  is  this  vast  im- 
migration! The  event  is  solitary  in  man's  history, 
of  the  benighted  nations  coming  to  the  ministry  to 
rebuke  its  long  delay  in  going  to  them.  This  is  a 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


49 


new  summons  to  ministerial  action — a new  theater 
for  the  grandest  achievements — a vantage-ground  on 
which  the  hand,  and  head,  and  heart  have  scope  for 
cooperation  as  they  have  never  ^ad  since  ^Hhe  in- 
imitable twelve''  passed  from  their  conflicts  to  their 
crowns.  Though  this  single  glance  at  the  mysteri- 
ous energies  operating  on  American  society  reveals 
them  only  at  one  point,  our  limits  admit  of  no  more. 
Nor  will  they  restrict  us  to  less  brevity  in  attempt- 
ing to  exhibit  the  signs  of  the  times  in  the  fields  of 
science. 

The  severe  revision  to  which  many  of  the  sciences 
are  forced  to  submit  is  full  of  significancy.  Within 
our  own  age  the  deepest  thinkers  have  challenged 
principles  bearing  on  their  face  the  indorsement  of 
ages  of  light.  Instance  the  German  philosophy, 
which  has  dared  to  reconstruct  the  very  system  of 
thought.  Though  that  philosophy  is  without  just 
claim  to  novelty  as  a whole,  it  is  strongly  marked 
with  many  features  of  originality.  It  has  achieved 
something  for  the  science  of  psychology,  and  much 
for  the  subversion  of  religion.  Eevealed  theology, 
having  been  compelled  by  those  theorists  to  abide 
the  fiery  test  of  their  wild  philosophy,  had  little  left 
to  its  source — the  sacred  oracles — but  the  wisdom 
of  the  sage  or  the  genius  of  the  poet.  They  allowed 
to  the  Scriptures  an  adaptation  to  the  age  of  Au- 
gustus Caesar,  but  none  to  the  higher  development 
of  this  noonday  period.  At  one  stage  of  their  ad- 
vances, they  so  reconstructed  our  mental  and  moral 


50 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


constitution  as  to  find  in  itself  the  highest  object  in 
the  universe,  and  out  of  itself  nothing  but  a projec- 
tion of  itself.  .But  this  broad,  unblushing  panthe- 
ism, at  war  with  so  many  abiding  relations  of  our 
nature,  could  act  only  by  spasms,  and  survive  long 
enough  for  Nature  to  take  breath  to  utter  her  ten 
thousand  voices  of  refutation. 

A theory  ineffably  more  dangerous  is  that  which 
accords  its  claimed  authority  with  the  voice  of  his- 
tory, while  it  denies  that  history  reaches  up  to  the 
source  of  Christianity.  It  grants  the  validity  of 
that  martyr  protest  given  in  the  age  of  Origen  and 
Clemens,  but  maintains  there  is  a chasm  unbridged 
by  any  Christian  history  which  severs  this  age  from 
that  of  Jesus — that  in  those  two  unhistoric  centuries 
originated  our  present  Testament — that  this  is  a se- 
lection from  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  Christian 
writings  which  had  accumulated  in  the  Church. 
Were  this  allegation  truthful  as  it  is  daring — had 
it  evidence  as  it  has  bravado,  a reconstruction  of 
the  Christian  system  would  be  a just  demand.  But 
if  the  New  Testament  has  emanated  from  God — if, 
indeed,  it  be  a revelation  from  Heaven,  how  can  such 
a demand  be  urged  with  a shadow  of  reason?  If  it 
be  an  offspring  of  that  Mind  which  must  be  ever 
equally  aware  of  human  wants,  the  adequateness  of 
its  provision  can  not  be  prevented  by  the  want  of 
human  development  when  it  was  given.  The  claim, 
then,  for  reconstruction  rests  on  the  baseless  as- 
sumption that  the  Gospel  is  traceable  to  various 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


51 


tributary  streams,  and  not  to  the  Infinite  Mind  as 
its  exclusive  fountain.  What  system  of  ar^  age  has 
ever  perished  any  further  than  it  wanted  truthful- 
ness? Before  it  has  become  obsolete  the  truth  it 
contained  has  combined  itself  with  systems  less  er- 
roneous. But  the  unmingled  nature  of  revealed 
truth  must  prevent  an  eclectic  process,  and  preclude 
all  substitution.  This  is  too  lofty  an  attribute  of 
character  to  admit  of  its  ever  coming  within  the 
power  of  reconstruction.  We  demand  with  em- 
phasis, then.  When  shall  that  age  arrive  at  which 
the  young  spirit  of  the  future  will  not  be  the  native 
offspring  of  the  Gospel?  Sooner  will  the  arch  of 
heaven  fail  to  span  the  globe,  than  revealed  princi- 
ples to  take  in  the  entire  orbit  of  created  mind. 

A broader  view  would  have  convinced  these  rea- 
soners  that  the  whole  class  of  their  obj^tions,  of 
which  this  is  but  a single  variety,  must  give  way 
before  those  very  principles  whose  validity  they  ad- 
mit. For,  how  can  they  allow  the  history  of  the 
third  century  to  be  reliable  up  to  the  utmost  claim 
of  the  Christian  argument,  and  deny  to  our  Testa- 
ment the  source  which  it  has  always  claimed  ? How 
can  they  assign  it  any  later  origin,  only  by  rejecting 
the  principles  previously  admitted — only  by  a sup- 
position not  less  monstrous  than  the  open  rejection 
of  all  ancient  history?  Was  there  ever  a wilder 
fancy  substituted  for  argument  than  the  following 
supposition,  which  they  have  virtually  adopted : that 
the  whole  Church,  spread  over  the  civilized  world, 


52 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


without  any  external  head,  or  general  council,  or 
legal  establishment,  or  acknowledged  authority  of 
any  kind,  and  agitated  by  severe  conflicts — that  the 
Church  thus  circumstanced  could  all  be  made  to 
suddenly  reject  its  sacred  writings,  and  substitute 
others,  believing  them  the  productions  of  Christ's 
apostles?  How  could  this  conclusion  be  adopted,  so 
utterly  at  war  with  all  that  ever  transpired  in  hu- 
man history?  Is  not  this  dashing  to  atoms,  by  a 
single  stroke,  every  previously-adopted  principle  ? 
When  such  charge  us  with  passing  the  gulf — which 
the  post-apostolic  age  is  said  to  open  before  us — on 
the  slender  wing  of  mere  inference,  should  not  their 
attention  be  directed  again  to  the  fact  that  their 
objection  derives  its  only  force  from  the  overthrow 
of  that  very  principle  on  whose  validity  they  rely ! 
Let  them  dispassionately  trace  the  cautious  steps  of 
Paley,  Marsh,  Whately,  or  any  other  of  those  sober 
inquirers  of  the  same  school  who  have  traced  that 
chain  of  well-linked  Christian  testimonies,  and  then, 
on  ground  equally  solid,  show  us  whether  this  bridge, 
slung  across  this  fancied  gulf,  be  unsafe — whether 
our  passage  over  it  be  through  the  air  or  on  firm 
footing.  Let  them  heedfully  inspect  ^Hhe  attesta- 
tions of  the  apostles  and  evangelists,  who  were  pres- 
ent at  the  events  they  relate  and  assume,  whose 
lives  were  turned  into  a new  channel  by  their  in- 
fluence, and  who  went  to  prison  and  to  death  rather 
than  deny  them — who  positively  declared  they  wit- 
ne^ed  the  most  stupendous  miracles,  and  after  their 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


53 


Master  had  been  visibly  taken  up  through  the 
clouds^  themselves  habitually  exercised  the  same  stu- 
pendous power.’'  Let  them  show  us  how  the  guar- 
antees of  testimony  can  go  further;  and  if  this  be 
impossible,  we  demand  the  rejection  of  their  strange 
hypothesis,  and  the  admission,  as  valid,  of  these 
Christian  testimonies.  Why  should  the  faint  and 
refracted  ray  of  metaphysical  evidence  divert  their 
eyes  from  the  strong  and  steady  luster  of  historic 
proof?  But  especially,  why,  in  the  name  of  consist- 
ency, should  they  heed  the  voice  of  history  when 
speaking  from  the  third  century,  and  turn  away 
from  its  utterances  when  they  come  from  the  sec- 
ond century?  Why  is  the  sacred  history  of  the 
first  century  ignored  ? Why  is  its  origin  sought  in 
an  accumulated  mass  of  unauthorized  manuscripts, 
which  were  the  product  of  a later  age?  Why 
should  the  history  of  this  second  century  want 
validity  any  more  than  that  of  a later  century, 
while  the  very  existence  of  this  would  be  impossi- 
ble without  the  truth  of  that?  Were  the  Gospel 
history  incumbered  with  fundamental  anachronisms, 
material  misplacements,  or  moral  incongruities,  then, 
ab  initio,  doubt  might  be  legitimate.  But  what  so- 
ber critic  now  pretends  to  any  thing  of  the  kind? 
What  sound  judge  can  tolerate  for  a moment  that 
bold  ■ allegation  of  the  last  age,  that  the  only  two 
accounts  of  the  birth  and  infancy  of  Jesus  are  hope- 
lessly at  variance  with  each  other;  or  that  there 
still  remains  unharmonized  discrepancies  in  the  evi- 


64 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


dence  of  Christ’s  resurrection?  All  candid  inquir- 
ers know  the  impossibility  of  considering  that  his- 
toric proof,  of  matchless  force,  which  sustains  the 
highest  claims  of  Jesus,  without  finding  in  it  a re- 
sistless protest  against  rending  from  the  history  of 
his  achievements  that  of  his  supernatural  birth. 
This  discussion  is  no  attempt  to  obviate  that  large 
class  of  objections  involving  an  appeal  to  antiquity; 
but  simply  to  suggest  to  my  junior  brethren  the 
demand  now  upon  them  for  a thorough  acquaintance 
with  antiquity. 

To  these  characteristics  of  our  times  we  must  not 
fail  to  add  another.  This  consists  in  a strong  tend- 
ency to  find  in  the  hosom  of  the  Natural  the 

CAUSE  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 

Gibbon,  the  infidel  historian,  is  far  from  peculiar 
in  this  perverting  reference  of  spiritual  effects  to 
natural  causes.  We  advert  here  to  the  five  reasons 
he  offers  for  the  matchless  rapidity  with  which 
Christianity  pervaded  the  whole  empire,  as  a single 
instance  of  many  illustrative  of  our  position.  But 
how  can  events  favorable  to  the  success  of  a super- 
natural cause  supersede  the  miraculous  character  of 
that  cause?  No  student  of  the  age  needs  to  be  told 
how  German  neology  accounts  for  the  peerless  prev- 
alence of  Christianity  in  the  martyr  age  of  its  con- 
flict. He  knows  that  this  assigns  it  to  causes  ex- 
clusive of  every  shadow  of  God’s  interference.  It 
finds  reason  for  no  agency  beyond  what  is  merely 
earth-born.  It  sees  enough  in  the  decayed  state  of 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTHY. 


55 


the  Greek  and  Roman  polytheism ; in  the  utter  rot- 
tenness of  the  forces  of  the  empire;  in  the  complete 
poise  on  which  it  stood  between  external  unity  and 
internal  decay;  in  the  extinction  of  the  vitality  of 
its  majestic  organism  throughout  all  its  gigantic 
proportions;  and,  above  all,  in  its  religion  being  a 
simple  assent  to  an  idea,  while  that  of  Christianity 
was  profound  devotion  to  an  exalted  person.  Now, 
though  these  allegations  are  unassailable  truths,  how 
could  there  be  a more  stupendous  sophism  than  to 
substitute  them  for  the  miracles  of  Heaven?  Glance 
for  a moment  at  the  last  reason  assigned,  namely: 
that  Christianity  is  supreme  devotion  to  a peeson, 
and  not,  like  polytheism,  simple  assent  to  an  idea. 
This  is  truth — deep,  far-reaching  truth.  But  is  it 
a truth  peculiar  to  Christianity?  By  no  means.  It 
has  been  a distinction  of  the  true  worship  from  the 
beginning  of  creation.  Loeg  anterior  to  Christ  it 
characterized  the  patriarchal  devotion — it  was  the 
essential  vitality  of  that  devotion.  Without  it  that 
ancient  worship  might  have  been  the  earnestness  of 
philosophy,  the  enthusiasm  of  poetry,  the  inspiration 
of  genius,  or  some  other  glowing  element  of  kindled 
nature;  but  could  never  have  been  supreme  devo- 
tion. Was  there  ever  a real  worshiper  in  any  world 
without  an  object  invested  with  his  own  highest 
qualities — the  same  in  kind,  vastly  transcending  in 
degree?  Such  an  object  must  possess  the  discrimi- 
nating love  of  right,  and  the  innate  power  of  achiev- 
ing it.  He  must  glow  in  the  unborrowed  and  un- 


56  LECTUEf)S  AND  ADDEESSES. 

V 

dimmed  luster  of  a moral  nature,  involving  the 
causal  energy  of  a living  will.  Such  an  object  alone 
in  the  whole  universe  can  emancipate  the  agent 
into  the  captivity  of  worship.”  What  are  physical 
facts,  unconscious  laws,  resistless  force,  boundless 
space,  endless  duration — any  thing  or  every  thing, 
merely  impersonal ! What  can  these  be  to  elicit 
the  supreme  trust  of  a moral  agent?  They  may 
evade  his  knowledge,  defy  his  penetration,  over- 
whelm his  imagination,  baffle  all  his  powers — they 
may  even  entrance  him  by  their  living  harmony, 
but  can  never  command  his  worship.  In  all  their 
sublime  aggregate  they  can  not  even  furnish  a sym- 
bol of  what  he  adores. 

We  are  not  unaware  of  that  thrilling  interest  felt 
in  contemplating  the  absolute  ground  underlying 
the  transient  phenomena  of  nature — of  that  wonder 
awakened,  that  beauty  disclosed,  that  rapture  in- 
spired, by  tracing  the  unity  of  nature  which  per- 
vades its  mystic  system.  But  Avhat  has  even  the 
pantheistic  application  of  these  to  do  with  real  wor- 
ship? Whatever  perversion  might  raise  these  ob- 
jects into  supremacy,  the  victim  of  this  delusion 
would  find  all  terminating  in  disgusting  self-adora- 
tion. That  poetic  personification  by  which  a gor- 
geous fancy  seems  to  breathe  a living  spirit  on  life- 
less nature  is  a mere  illusion.  It  is  inspiring  only 
as  it^  impinges  on  the  verge  of  personality.  All  its 
life  is  secretly  borrowed  from  that  living  thought, 
kindled  by  a personal  object.  Who  that  reflected 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


67 


was  ever  a victim  of  so  egregious  a deception  as  to 
imagine  that  the  rich  tints  with  which  personifica- 
tion adorns  the  objects  of  its  notice  were  unbor- 
rowed— were  the  reflected  light  radiated  by  a con- 
cealed ao:ent? 

But  while  we  thus  far  heartily  accord  with  the 
objector  — while  with  him  we  pronounce  it  the 
bitterest  mockery  to  bid  a self-conscious  being  to 
devote  his  highest  affections  to  inert  nature,  or  to 
hypostasized  laws — how  can  this  possibly  supersede 
the  miracles  of  God?  how  can  it  account  for  what 
can  be  ascribed  only  to  his  stupendous  power?  Be- 
cause only  a supreme  person  can  elicit  supreme 
homage,  how  can  it  follow  that  only  the  presenta- 
tion of  such  a person  is  requisite  to  account  for 
all  the  unparalleled  achievements  of  Christianity? 
Why  should  this  very  same  object,  which  had  ever 
been  substantially  before  true  worshipers,  suddenly 
rise  up  into  such  amazing  efiiciency  as  to  neutralize 
the  highest  incentives  of  life,  and  make  the  mar- 
tyr's stake  a field  of  glory?  How,  then,  shall  that 
philosophy  be  characterized  which,  that  it  may  re- 
ject all  miracles,  ascribes  to  natural  causes  what 
all  ages  have  believed  nothing  but  a miracle  could 
produce?  Because  the  Infinite  Hand  arranges  ex- 
ternal events,  to  put  them  in  harmony  with  its  own 
miraculous  movements,  who  is  authorized  to  substi- 
tute such  arrangements  for  those  miracles?  Still, 
this  is  the  very  blunder  committed  by  that  whole 
class  of  reasoners  with  which  our  age  swarms. 


58 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDKESSES. 


These  miscellaneous  characteristics  of  our  times, 
of  almost  random  choice,  might  be  multiplied  in- 
definitely, without  the  slightest  danger  of  exhaust- 
ing the  peculiarities  of  the  age.  The  few,  however, 
at  which  we  have  so  hastily  glanced,  must  indicate 
the  special  demands  now  on  the  ministry;  and  others 
not  enumerated  must  find  their  representatives  in 
these.  The  preparation  to  meet  these  demands  must 
next  engage  our  attention. 

In  discussing  this  preparation,  however,  no  at- 
tempt will  be  made  to  trace  the  successive  steps 
to  the  required  attainments;  none  to  enumerate  the 
requisite  appliances  that  are  to  be  employed,  or  to 
point  out  the  obstacles  which  impede  the  successive 
advances  toward  the  consummation  of  the  grand 
achievement.  My  aim  will  simply  be  a brief 
advertence  to  the  general  mode  of  acquiring  the 
utmost  strength. 

Unless  the  demands  of  the  age  have  been  mis- 
conceived, and  are  too  occult  for  inspection — unless 
mere  shadows  have  deceived  me,  and  have  been 
substituted  for  reality  — our  age  calls  for  all  pos- 
sible strength  in  the  ministry.  It  requires  native 
strength,  whose  iron  bands  shall  gird  the  inward 
powers;  scientific  strength,  which  shall  marshal 
those  powers  into  the  consistency  of  a phalanx; 
literary  strength,  whose  stores,  like  the  ocean,  shall 
be  exhaustless;  moral  strength,  derived  from  alli- 
ance with  the  Immortal  God,  and  bringing  the  soul 
into  harmony  with  all  the  saving  influences  and 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


59 


agencies  of  the  atonement.  To  delineate  even  the 
direct  means  of  acquiring  this  bright  and  lofty 
aggregate  would  fill  not  a lecture,  but  a volume. 
Such  an  attempt,  then,  is  inadmissible;  and  every 
view  must  now  be  excluded  but  that  of  a single 
point  — UNITY  OF  PURSUIT. 

Though  this  is  the  narrowest  point  of  possible 
compression,  it  may  evolve  relations  and  claim 
illustrations  of  large  extent. 

If  singleness  of  aim  shall  be  found  to  invest  the 
minister  with  the  highest  capabilities  — if  it  best 
enables  him  to  strike  both  with  power  and  pre- 
cision — to  diffuse  truth  and  subvert  error  — to 
rouse  the  mind  and  rule  the  heart — to  crush  sin 
and  exalt  holiness — then  is  it  impossible  to  make 
the  light  too  intense  which  discloses  its  workings. 
That  the  highest  power  of  the  soul  is  secured  by 
the  combination  of  all  its  energies,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  doubt.  That  this  combination  may  be 
fully  realized,  the  object  must  be  one — the  eye  must 
be  single — the  heart  must  be  undivided — the  conse- 
cration must  be  entire. 

To  divide  the  object  of  pursuit  is  to  scatter  the 
energies  employed.  Only  half  the  man  is  availing 
who  alternately  acts  on  competing  objects.  His 
powers  are  scarcely  rallied  before  they  are  divided; 
then  combined  action  is  never  prosecuted  till  resist- 
ance is  overcome.  Whether  this  vacillation  arise 
from  instability  of  purpose  or  from  the  tyranny  of 
circumstances,  which  makes  a variety  of  objects 


60 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


alternately  paramount,  alters  not  the  case;  it  de- 
feats the  aim  of  the  agent  by  laying  waste  his 
utmost  strength. 

From  the  maximum  degree  his  powers  must  ever 
be  receding,  and  reach  its  minimum  point  just  when 
the  highest  energy  is  demanded.  In  the  result  there 
can  be  no  difference  — whether  the  cause  of  irreso- 
lution be  within  or  without  — whether  the  mighty 
son  of  Manoah  were  shorn  of  his  strength  by  the 
treacherous  object  he  had  taken  to  his  bosom,  or 
overcome  by  combined  forces  from  without.  It  is 
common  experience,  that  internal  oftener  than  ex- 
ternal causes  obstruct  unity  of  pursuit. 

The  efficiency  of  our  principle  admits  of  the  most 
ample  illustration.  When  did  the  aim  at  merely 
general  scholarship  ever  issue  in  great  achieve- 
ments? Here  is  found  the  solution  of  the  problem 
why  no  scholar,  since  the  revival  of  letters,  without 
a profession,  has  ever  left  a deep  impression  on  his 
age.  The  reason  lies  not  in  his  want  of  native 
strength,  or  literary  wealth,  or  scientific  grasp,  but 
in  the  want  of  a concentrating  object,  which  should 
converge  the  energies  on  a focal  point.  How  can  a 
marked  result  arise  from  the  scattered  energies  of 
the  strongest  soul?  The  diffused  sunbeams  may 
paint  the  flowers  with  beauty,  and  enrich  the  clouds 
with  splendor;  but  they  can  glow  in  the  melted 
metal,  they  dissolve  only  when  converged  to  a point 
by  the  lens  which  collects  them.  The  single  object 
of  the  mind’s  regard  is  the  convex  lens,  which 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTKY. 


61 


concentrates  its  energies,  giving  their  utmost  focal 
glowing  power. 

To  what  mind  but  to  that  of  entire  singleness, 
that  of  quenchless  earnestness,  does  history  award 
the  discoveries  of  truth,  the  inventions  of  genius, 
or  the  achievements  of  the  moral  hero?  How  can 
it  be  otherwise?  How  can  such  a mind  fail  to  view 
all  objects  within  its  circumference  in  their  relations 
to  its  single  end?  And  how  can  such  a view  fail 
to  detect  relations  otherwise  never  perceptible?  As 
every  great  object  sustains  relations,  reaching  to  the 
very  roots  of  thought,  and  sweeping  over  its  very 
out-walks,  it  must  command  and  unify  a field  of 
knowledge  unexplorable  without  such  a common 
center.  From  that  center  the  mind  traces  with 
astonishment  the  depth,  variety,  and  extent  of  that 
knowledge  thus  suggested  and  connected.  It  denies 
the  depth  from  which  relevant  ideas  arise  — the 
wealth  of  original  illustration — the  unexpected  anal- 
ogies which  burst  into  view.  All  these  disclosures, 
so  mysteriously  made,  point  to  their  cause,  in  unity 
of  pursuit.  To  mind,  in  this  single  earnest  state, 
science  after  science  contributes  its  stream,  as  from 
a fresh  and  ever-flowing  fountain,  till  nothing  in 
nature  seems  to  have  withheld  its  treasure  from  his 
grasp. 

This  is  the  real  and  only  process  by  which  the 
field  of  universal  knowledge  is  ever  commanded. 
By  it  the  mind  is  introduced  to  the  truths  of 
nature,  the  works  of  genius,  and  to  its  own  mys- 


62 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


terious  depths.  But  if  it  be  alternately  engaged 
by  competing  objects  of  pursuit,  it  is  thrown  be- 
yond the  power  of  the  associating  principle,  and 
has  nothing  to  attract  and  bind  its  particular  ideas. 
Its  unappropriated  knowledge  wastes  as  it  is  gained; 
and  its  thought,  and  capacity  for  thought,  must  re- 
main painfully  stationary.  This  want  of  a nucleus 
about  which  ideas  may  gather,  this  absence  of  a 
combining  principle  under  which  particular  ideas 
may  arrange  themselves,  exposes  all  knowledge  to 
the  ravages  of  perpetual  decay. 

The  source  of  that  grand  deception,  that  success 
in  a particular  pursuit  results  from  general  acquisi- 
tions, is  thus  disclosed,  and  the  truth  of  the  reverse 
is  made  to  shine  in  the  light  of  resistless  proof. 
Who  can  consult  the  structure  of  the  mind,  and 
the  conditions  on  which  it  is  enriched,  without 
having  the  clearest  perceptions  that  particular  suc- 
cess arises  not  from  general  acquisitions,  but  that 
these  are  made  by  intense  devotion  to  a single  aim. 
This  cause  and  its  effects  can  no  more  exchange 
places  than  mutations  can  occur  in  the  order  of 
logical  thought.  The  ^scholar  may  never  succeed 
in  a particular  object  of  difficult  attainment  be- 
cause his  knowledge  pervades  a broad  field,  but 
he  will  never  fail  to  acquire  that  knowledge  by 
intense  devotion  to  that  particular  object. 

But  though  rival  objects  of  conflicting  tendencies 
thus  divide  the  heart,  weaken  the  intellect,  and 
paralyze  exertion,  it  is  not  so  with  harmonious 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


63 


objects.  These  may  be  various  and  numerous,  with- 
out distracting  attention  or  abating  ardor.  Having 
a common  end,  they  are  bound  to  it  by  that  great 
associating  principle  which  unifies  all  plurality.  The 
accomplishment  of  that  end  may  involve  the  activi- 
ties of  agents  diverse  in  nature,  different  in  sort,  and 
remote  in  locations,  without  impairing  the  strength 
of  the  guiding  mind. 

That  mind,  so  directing  a series  of  expedients  as 
to  bring  them  into  efficient  cooperation,  may  appear 
to  the  multitude  wasting  its  energies  in  random 
movements.  But  to  the  moving  agent  these  sub- 
ordinate forces  have  all  the  order  of  perfect  dis- 
cipline. So  far  from  dividing  his  energies,  they 
extend  the  sphere  of  his  well-directed  agency. 
Thus  the  unity  of  the  object  pursued  prevents 
any  number  of  means  employed  from  impairing 
the  power  of  the  actor. 

Nor  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  determ- 
ined mind  unfavorable  to  the  exertion  of  its  utmost 
strength.  The  sole  question  for  the  adjustment  of 
such  a mind  is  this.  Is  success  within  the  limits 
of  practicability?  If  so,  the  more  formidable  the 
obstacles  to  it  the  more  thoroughly  will  be  roused 
the  energies  of  the  soul  — the  richer  will  be  the 
splendors  investing  the  achievement.  Who  knows 
not  that  the  highest  displays  of  character  are  the 
fruit  of  the  -mightiest  exigencies  in  human  affairs  ? 
These  rouse  the  profound  energies  of  the  soul  which 
lie  in  depths  never  disturbed  by  the  ordinary  current 


64 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


of  life.  The  determined  soul,  like  the  well-formed 
arch,  derives  strength  from  the  weight  pressing  upon 
it.  It  finds  incentive  to  action  in  the  very  obstacles 
to  its  success.  The  success  realized,  and  the  eflbrt 
to  secure  it,  have  their  measure  in  the  motive  which 
incites  and  the  vigor  of  the  agent’s  purpose.  As 
these  are  strong,  those  are  large.  Now,  it  belongs 
to  a great  end  to  extend  in  magnitude  at  every 
step  of  approach  toward  accomplishment,  and  no 
observer  can  be  ignorant  of  the  growing  power 
which  this  increasing  excitement  elicits. 

The  man  of  this  simple  aim  betrays  its  mysterious 
power  over  his  whole  character.  It  is  discovered  in 
the  rigid  appropriation  of  his  time;  in  the  sifting 
scrutiny  of  his  observation;  in  the  scrupulous  ex- 
actness of  his  punctuality;  and  in  the  deeper  skill 
by  which  he  combines  and  lays  under  contribution 
all  events  to  his  purpose.  He  is  aware  of  the 
reality  of  that  great  principle,  that  the  structure 
of  the  soul  admits  of  its  energies  being  kindled 
ta  their  utmost  glow  only  when  their  object  has 
the  strictest  unity;  that,  unavoidably,  the  division 
of  attention  is  the  grave  of  enthusiasm.  By  this 
law  alone  will  a great  object  be  made  to  pervade 
the  entire  field  of  vision,  fill  the  utmost  capacity 
of  the  soul,  and  become  a world  of  itsqjf.  The 
whole  history  of  the  race  might  be  challenged  to 
furnish  a single  instance  in  which  genius  glowed 
intensely,  in  poetry,  or  science,  or  eloquence,  or  in 
the  fine  arts,  or  moral  heroism,  or  any  where  else. 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


65 


where  a single  object  did  not  absorb  the  aspirant  s 
soul.  The  severer  the  ordeal  by  which  inward 
strength  has  been  tested,  the  more  striking  the 
working  of  the  principle.  The  confessor’s  dungeon, 
the  martyr  s stake,  have  revealed  its  fearless  might. 
We  may  well  invoke  its  agency  in  the  ministerial 
functions.  Ten  thousand  examples  from  that  high 
vocation  proclaim  its  efficacy.  Never  was  it  more 
applicable  to  this  profession  than  at  the  present 
moment;  never  was  there  an  age  that  could  not 
more  harmlessly  dispense  with  it. 

The  all-comprising  object  of  the  ministry  is 
this  — to  make  known  God  the  Trinity  to  man 
the  sinner. 

This  has  ever  been  the  minister’s  legitimate  aim. 
The  most  summary  expression  of  that  principle,  di- 
recting all  its  movements  to  that  end,  is  holiness 
to  the  Lord.” 

But  the  scenes  of  ministerial  action,  and  the  cor- 
responding qualifications  for  action  in  these  scenes, 
have  never  been  stationary.  Should  the  latter  re- 
main so  amid  all  the  mutations  of  the  former, 
adaptation  being  lost,  ministerial  efficiency  would 
perish  in  the  gulf  which  would  yawn  between  the 
laborer  and  his  work. 

But  the  most  unexpected  affinity  will  be  found 
between  unreserved  consecration  to  our  work  and 
the  facility  of  adapting  means  to  that  end.  This 
striking  relationship  may  be  best  illustrated  by  in- 
stances of  lofty  example.  Degenerate  as  is  the  race, 


66 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


such  abound  in  every  moral  enterprise  in  man’s 
history.  Look  at  the  disinterested  struggles  made 
by  the  immortal  men,  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson! 
Their  history  is  in  this  sentence:  ^^The  abolition 
of  the  slave-trade.”  Look  at  Howard,  the  lofty 
philanthropist!  In  these  words  is  compressed  the 
history  of  his  life:  Relief  to  the  prisoners  of 

Europe.”  Turn  to  the  mighty  man  who  rolled  the 
flood  of  truth  over  the  Teutonic  nations!  Here  is 
his  character:  ^^The  German  Reformation.”  Nor 
is  the  history  of  Wesley  less  eloquent  when  com- 
pressed in  these  words:  living  Gospel  to  two 

hemispheres.” 

An  expansion  of  each  of  these  sentences  into  huge 
volumes,  portraying  the  deep  workings  of  these  fer- 
vid minds,  would  exhibit  every  means  they  employed 
pointing  like  a beam  of  light  to  the  one  end.  Emi- 
nent as  were  the  honored  agents,  it  was  not  the 
magnitude  -of  peerless  powers  in  them  by  which 
they  -achieved  those  immortal  deeds.  It  was  the 
burning,  sleepless  devotion  of  all  their  powers  to 
one  grand  aim.  Nor  will  a single  man  of  our 
race,  copying  these  beautiful  models  of  supreme  de- 
votion to  man’s  rescue,  fail  to  leave  on  his  gen- 
eration abiding  traces  of  his  power.  Other  ages 
will  know  that  he  was  once  among  men,  anT  will 
bless  Heaven  for  the  spirit  that  directed  his  sleep- 
less energies. 

While  this  deep  earnestness — this  singleness  of 
heart — this  lofty  consecration  to  our  living  Head 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTEY. 


67 


distinguishes  the  minister,  nothing  can  restrict  the 
sphere  of  his  agency.  It  will  throw,  like  the  power 
of  gravity,  a mysterious  force  over  his  own  charac- 
ter, and  operate,  by  secret  laws,  to  sway  and  mold 
society.  The  resistless  energy  with  which  the  per- 
vading power  of  this  principle  operates,  permeates 
the  whole  living  mass.  While  it  inspires  public 
confidence  in  the  man  which  it  invests,  it  quickens 
his  inventive  powers,  making  them  fertile  in  benev- 
olent expedients. 

This,  then,  is  the  towering  spirit  to  which  poster- 
ity is  destined  to  award  its  highest  veneration.  It 
is  that  spirit  which,, mild  as  the  morning  light  and 
meek  as  the  leader  of  Israel,  is  firm,  fearless,  invin- 
cible, uncompromising.  It  controls  the  consciences 
of  men  and  wins  the  approval  and  supporting  aid 
of  God. 

This  power  in  the  ministry  might  be  analyzed 
with  special  advantage  by  exhibiting  its  particular 
elements  as  indicating  a high  state  of  mental  disci- 
pline, large  acquaintance  with  science  and  literature, 
a mastery  of  pulpit  elocution,  a comprehensive  ac- 
quaintance with  theology  and  Biblical  literature,  a 
burning  love  for  ransomed  man,  an  intenser  interest 
for  the  Redeemer's  glory,  fraternal  affection  and 
harmonious  action  among  his  anointed  servants. 
But  as  these,  and  all  kindred  elements  of  power,  are 
found  in  the  elaboration  of  our  principle,  they  can 
not  here  be  delineated.  As  this  supreme  consecra- 
tion, then,  is  the  compendium  of  all  those  qualifica- 


68 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


tions  which  respond  to  the  unique  call  of  our  times — 
as  it  most  intensifies  our  mental  powers,  converging 
all  their  energies  to  a point  where  they  burst  into 
flame — as  it  takes  up  and  appropriates  every  faculty 
to  the  most  intense  affection  and  vigorous  action,  it 
relates  the  minister  alike  to  the  present  and  to  the 
future.  The  system  under  which  he  operates  binds 
such  action  to  the  future.  He  carries  the  past  with 
him,  though  he  stays  not  behind  with  that.  He 
enters  the  future,  though  not  so  as  to  forsake  the 
present.  He  provides  increased  aliment  for  poster- 
ity, but  not  on  principles  which  withhold  it  from 
cotemporaries. 

He  looks  deeper  than  others  into  the  wound  of 
the  race,  and  traces  to  this  the  hydra  errors  which 
perplex  our  century.  His  view  of  the  atoning  rem- 
edy is  more  accurate,  profound,  and  comprehensive; 
for  the  same  reason  that  every  object  discloses  its 
relations  in  proportion  to  the  depth  with  which  it  is 
contemplated.  He  avoids  the  blunders,  committed 
by  only  half-imbued  minds,  of  applying  to  the  head 
that  which  was  prepared  for  the  heart — of  substi- 
tuting philosophy  for  faith,  or  of  making  them  com- 
petitors instead  of  allies — of  attempting  to  remove 
man's  maladies  by  other  means  than  those  provided 
in  heaven. 

If  these  hints  at  the  demands  of  the  times,  and 
the  only  effective  mode  of  providing  for  then),  be 
just,  then  is  the  ministerial  course  marked  with  the 
utmost  simplicity,  and  intended  for  the  highest  of 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTEY. 


69 


all  achievements.  To  surround  this  conclusion  with 
the  clearest  light  of  evidence  — to  give  it  the  force 
of  perfect  demonstration  — is  the  aim  of  this  ad- 
dress. 

Beloved  Alumniy—W e would  make  the  occasion 
which  has  assembled  us  tributary  to  this  great  aim. 
The  events  which  give  character  to  this  hour  can 
not  fail  to  secure  it  a place  in  memory  long  after  we 
shall  have  dispersed  to  our  accustomed  work.  Dear 
brethren,  we  have  met  again  once  more  to  part. 
Not  all  are  here!  Some  of  our  absent  members 
have  been  prevented  by  distance  from  sharing  in 
the  reminiscences  whose  charm  has  drawn  us  hither; 
others  have  fallen  at  their  posts  and  departed  to 
their  reward;  others  are  lifting  up  their  voices  on 
the  Pacific’s  coast  in  harmony  with  the  injunction 
of  the  great  commission. 

Such  as  have  sunk  in  the  tomb  have  not  aban- 
doned the  sphere  of  their  agency,  but  ascend  to  a 
higher  one.  They  are  not  lost,  but  fled — not  ab- 
sent, though  unseen.  Not  only  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia on  the  Western  ocean  have  representatives  of 
our  Institute,  they  are  also  found  in  the  ethereal 
regions  of  the  blessed.  They  mingle  in  the  scenes 
of  glorified  humanity — they  act  in  the  exalted  sphere 
of  fleshless  agents.  While  the  occasion,  then,  crowds 
the  present  with  reminiscences,  let  it  kindle  the  fu- 
ture with  hope.  Though  the  prospect  is  dim  of  our 
reunion  in  this  militant  abode,  it  is  not  so  of  our 
future  greeting  in  the  regions  of  vitality,  where 


70 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES, 


those  one  in  affection  shall  have  one  abode.’^  But 
even  on  these  agitated  coasts  we  know  that  place  is 
related  only  to  our  grosser  nature.  State,  not  ‘lo- 
cality, belongs  to  a purified  mind.  Such  mind  has 
an  intercourse  irrespective  of  proximity— in  spite  of 
distance. 

Though,  in  this  life,  it  passes  not  to  its  higher 
sphere  of  moral  functions,  where  increased  raptures, 
though  social,  are  uttered  by  thought  alone,  unseen, 
unheard,  intangible  as  God’s  own  essence — though  it 
enters  not  now  that  deep  silence  in  which  the  rich- 
est harmonies  roll  amid  the  outspread  beauties  of 
the  spirit  realm,  yet  has  it  mysterious  fellowship 
amid  the  wanderings  of  this  pilgrimage.  This  in- 
tercourse shall  pervade  the  fields  we  cultivate — ^shall 
give  proximity  to  the  distant  posts  assigned  us. 
The  unity  of  our  absorbing  object  shall  be  the  bond 
of  our  fraternal  connection — its  grandeur  shall  ra- 
diate the  tender  melancholy  of  our  separation. 

Amid  the  awakened  remembrances  of  the  occa- 
sion, there  is  one  heart  which  beats  with  unwonted 
palpitations.  That  heart  swells  with  grateful  emo- 
tion in  the  retrospect  of  the  past.  The  period 
stretching  back  to  the  beginning  of  our  enterprise 
presents  itself  to  memory  in  three  divisions.  One 
of  fierce  conflict  and  exhausting  toil,  while  the  la- 
borer had  little  countenance,  excepting  from  an  ap- 
proving heart  and  a sustaining  Heaven — when  on 
more  than  a single  continent  the  voice  of  entreaty 
was  heard  for  aid  to  the  school  of  the  prophets. 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


71 


The  next  was  a time  of  trembling  hope  that  the 
Unseen  Hand  which  had  begun  to  interfere  would 
continue  its  agency  till  the  completion  of  the  suc- 
cess— that  the  agency  conspiring  against  the  enter- 
prise should  yet  be  made  to  combine  in  its  support. 
The  third  has  been  the  realization  of  these  hopes  in 
the  face  of  the  whole  Church,  so  that  the  mingled 
sound  that  then  arose  of  kind  approval  and  vigorous 
protest  are  now,  through  the  entire  East,  a harmo- 
nious voice  of  greeting  and  thanksgiving.  The 
searching  light  evolved  in  its  beneficent  workings 
has  dissipated  the  fears  of  its  cowardly  friends,  and 
put  to  returnless  flight  the  objections  of  its  foes. 
These  marked  results  at  least  feebly  illustrate  that 
sublime  principle  thus  uttered: 

Truth  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again — 

The  eternal  years  of  Grod  are  hers; 

But  error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 

And  dies  amid  her  worshipers.’’ 

It  is  an  ancient  truth  that  a good  cause  never 
fails.  It  may  be  impeded  in  its  progress,  diverted 
from  its  course,  or  suspended  in  its  apparent  opera- 
tions; but  total  failure  is  out  of  the  question.  Its 
type  is  in  the  great  remedial  system,  which  is 
slowly  working  out  for  the  race  so  bright  a destiny. 
Such  a cause,  suppressed,  concealed,  and  apparently 
crushed,  like  the  river  flowing  beneath  the  mount- 
ain range,  will  reappear  to  fertilize  the  probation- 
ary field.  But,  though  such  records  of  the  past 

will  ever  be  dear  to  our  hearts — though  memory 

7 


72 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


will  never  part  with  the  lessons  they  teach — yet  to 
the  created  mind  the  future  will  ever  have  a richer 
interest.  It  gives  scope  for  higher  achievements. 
It  will  be  kindled  with  stronger  lights.  Let  us 
now,  however,  deem  the  past  prophetic  of  the  fu- 
ture, and  give  ourselves  for  its  highest  demands. 
Should  after  years  task  our  powers  with  equal  la- 
bor, let  it  be  endured  at  least  with  equal  patience. 
Should  they  kindle  before  us  the  flame  of  conflict, 
let  us  do  battle  only  for  God  and  his  Church, 
Should  the  issue  of  the  strife  be  signal  victory,  let 
the  glory  of  the  field  wreathe  the  brow  of  the  Ke- 
deemer.  Should  we  fall  in  the  strife,  let  our  expir- 
ing breath  kindle  the  heroism  of  posterity;  and 
when  each  of  us  departs  from  the  mortal  scenes,  let 
it  be  felt  that  a friend  of  God,  a brother  of  man,  has 
made  his  exit. 

But  how  shall  we  appropriately  speak  of  the  In- 
stitute so  as  neither  to  exaggerate  nor  depreciate? 
It  has  doubtless  been  an  object  to  which  the  gradu- 
ates have  looked  back  with  strange  and  abiding 
emotions.  Since  the  lapse  of  intervening  years  has 
modified  your  enthusiasm  for  your  Alma  Matee, 
may  I ask  your  present  opinion  of  her  character? 
But  your  presence  to-day  is  a response  to  the  in- 
quiry. The  expensive  journeys  which  it  has  cost 
you,  and  the  kindled  countenance  with  which  you 
appear,  are  eloquent  of  the  settled  judgment  you 
have  formed.  Were  the  data  sought  on  which  this 
judgment  is  based,  you  would  doubtless  present 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTRY. 


73 


them  in  two  classes:  the  personal  growth  of  intel- 
lect and  heart  in  divine  knowledge  and  holy  expe- 
rience, of  which  each  has  intuitive  certainty;  and 
its  benignant  working  on  its  other  inmates,  as  a fact 
of  public  notoriety.  Yoi^can  doubtless  point  to  its 
career,  as  to  that  of  a faithful  probationer,  which  has 
had  a waxing  glory  up  to  this  hour — which,  though 
successful  at  the  outset,  has  ever  been  exceeding  its 
former  self.  It  has  passed  several  changes  in  the 
board  of  its  instruction.  It  is  now  parting  with  the 
last  member  of  its  first  faculty.  One  of  that  faculty 
is  now  in  the  West,  controlling  the  interests  of  an- 
other institution.  The  second  has  passed  from  its 
chair  to  make  the  continent  his  parish.  The  third 
is  about  collecting  what  little  remains  of  his  wasted 
energies  to  establish  another  school  of  the  prophets 
in  the  mighty  West''  But  we  rejoice  to  know  that 
change  is  not  bereavement,  that  successors  are  not 
inferiors,  that  the  past  is  prophecy,  and  that  the 
future  will  be  the  expansion  of  present  history. 
May  we  prayerfully  commend  to  the  Divine  super- 
vision this  child  of  God’s  providence!  We  may  also 
be  permitted,  under  Him,  to  commit  it  to  the  sym- 
pathies of  all  who  can  grasp  the  magnitude  of  its 
interests.  We  trust,  also,  that  the  same  Hand 
which  has  directed  the  destiny  of  the  first,  will 
never  be  withdrawn  from  the  interest  of  the  second. 
That  the  holy  light,  streaming  from  this  in  the 
East,  and  from  that  in  the  West,  will  radiate  the 
intervening  space  of  a thousand  miles — that  the 


74 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


second,  being  the  reproduction  of  the  first,  will 
.never  be  its  competitor,  but  always  its  ally — that, 
like  David  and  Jonathan,  they  will  be  strongly  knit 
together  in  life,  and,  like  Melchisedek,  they  will 
never  be  subject  to  death.  Let  us  hope  that  both 
will  send  out  their  anointed  sons  to  grapple  wity 
the  foe  at  every  stronghold  of  wickedness,  and  that 
the  New  World  will  never  cease  to  read  on  their 
escutcheon,  in  letters  of  fire,  this  motto:  ^^We  live 
not  for  ourselves;”  ^^we  are  your  servants  for  Jesus' 
sake.”  To  whom,  then,  but  to  the  Alumni — to  those 
noble  youth  who  know  the  power  of  character  de- 
rived from  self-sustaining  effort — to  whom  else,  under 
God,  should  we  confide  the  character  of  these  new- 
born institutions?  ^Who  else  can  give  the  Church  so 
thrilling  a demonstration  of  its  momentous  bearing? 
This,  of  course,  will  not  be  done  by  high-sounding 
eulogies,  but  by  divine  beauty  of  character — by  a 
sweetness  of  temper  that  nothing  can  imbitter,  a 
meekness  of  spirit  that  never  boasts,  a zeal  that 
never  languishes,  an  intelligence  that  ever  expands; 
in  one  word,  by  being  a model  ministry — ready  for 
every  work  of  sacrifice,  for  every  post  of  danger, 
for  every  conflict  of  error — occupying  an  eminence 
covered  with  light,  from  which  the  mild  luster  of 
example,  flowing  to  mingle  with  the  strong  radiance 
of  instruction,  shall  pierce  the  densest  darkness.  By 
thus  furnishing  the  Church  with  a band  of  heroes, 
in  whom  the  chosen  twelve  would  have  found  fit 
companionship,  you  will  confer  the  highest  honor  on 


DEMANDS  ON  THE  MINISTEY. 


75 


the  institution  which  you  represent.  You  will  be- 
queath to  posterity  a character  which  shall  form  an 
abiding  object  of  the  age.  Those  now  unborn  will 
be  attracted  by  its  moral  grandeur.  They  will  be- 
hold it  looming  up  in  the  distance,  like  the  granite 
peaks  of  ancient  mountains.  It  shall  be  bathed  in 
light  long  after  the  darkness  of  ages  shall  have  set- 
tled down  on  common  character. 

In  the  hope  that  our  beloved  graduates  will  aspire 
to  these  lofty  attainments — that  they  will  be  no  less 
distinguished  for  the  elevation  of  their  motives  than 
for  the  compass  of  their  thoughts — for  the  purity  of 
their  affections  than  for  the  success  of  their  enter- 
prises; in  the  hope  this  ascending  process  will  issue 
in  a broader  sphere  of  being,  perfection,  and  serv- 
ice— that  it  will  conduct  to  reunion  where  the  free- 
dom of  our  powers,  the  education  of  our  companions, 
and  the  rapture  of  our  associations,  shall  prevent  for- 
ever these  farewell  scenes  of  sundering  hearts,  weep- 
ing eyes,  and  quenched  fervors — full  of  this  hope, 
we  tear  ourselves  with  firmness  from  the  beloved 
objects  before  us — we  bid  you,  my  dear  brethren, 
and  our  cherished  institution,  an  affectionate  and 
final  farewell. 


' 

iri--Y  Jf:  :■  ":  r r ’"" 

::/■  * -[  < Y Aoj:-^r  : \ d 

- ,:;r''.:rr^>l  b*cKf'. 

;:-i.  1*5  ^ i -K'  ■;  1-;  : 

'-^1  i[- ’,•■  -“  w'T. 

' .-  . ■ • V- M; 
.-•-  i ' ' . ;:  ■ 'l-^C  ! -i 

U ; 'J " ''i*u  .hi V :> • ; ■; . -tH:. L i-  .:  * : i ".; Y': . ' " ■ -•  i.  :/  :f\h  ? 

::;]’  "0-r:.'0ri.r io  .^.  i-/  -'.• i r^.,  ..•> 

■ - ‘•f''y5>Iv;ii;.-.— ■• 

••  -t^;r  lu'u  irONnh 

■::'t  0i:;i",7  ui)rf.r:.JO'i  v-i-  1v.vI:a:=::-  {:i.v.v 

, ! ^:;i:tBoa^ijp.'>:o  i:!..;i;i,r>i; t;i  ;.;ic 

-yy  >;r»7#rj  ^:;o  '«> 

Utvo-XK?  er;.^r  i<Ti;Xi:  a^,--..'.  i 

*rO:-h  VJ\l-  ,r7V?  A V? 

r-M-Jr.  li  ;.i.'^f7>^tj-;  i;i;>  ^aoFj  Jj,;  U'‘l' ' •tV^d^’*- 


’*h 


m. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE: 

A LECTURE  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE 
BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE,  CONCORD,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


TO  THE  JUNIOR  MINISTRY  OE  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

THIS  DISCOURSE  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 

Beloved  Brethren, — The  peculiar  relations  of  the  writer,  for 
several  years,  to  hundreds  of  your  number,  emboldens  him  to 
address  to  you  especially  the  following  discussion.  His  aim  in 
these  pages  has  been  to  settle  a few  great  principles  under  which 
may  be  arranged  many  of  the  far-reaching  truths  alike  import- 
ant to  psychology  and  religion.  The  impassable  gulf  dividing 
between  mind  and  matter — the  utter  unlikeness  in  the  laws  gov- 
erning them — the  consequent  impossibility  of  all  interchange 
between  them — the  points  of  perfect  similarity  and  of  entire 
unlikeness  between  the  human  intellect  and  the  Mind  Supreme — 
the  etern ally-necessary  contrast  between  all  agents  and  all  in- 
struments— these,  and  kindred  outlines  of  truth,  are  the  vital 
principles  with  which  the  writer  has  here  dared  to  grapple. 

When  it  is  recollected  that  the  mightiest  thinkers  of  the  race 
have  hovered  with  awe  around  the  fearful  depths  of  Jehovah’s 
agency  in  the  universe — that  the  earnest  discussion  of  ages  has 
failed  to  identify  the  precise  limit  where  the  created  intellect  and 
the  Infinite  Mind  meet,  and  how  and  where  each  acts  alone — 
when  the  intrinsic  difficulty  of  these  questions  is  fathomed,  who 
can  anticipate  that,  by  a brief  discourse,  they  will  be  dismantled 
of  that  darkness  with  which  the  erring  inquirers  of  antiquity 


78 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


have  shrouded  them?  The  plan  of  this  discourse  has  admitted 
of  little  else  than  the  statement  and  brief  illustration  of  these 
principles.  Their  full  elaboration,  it  is  believed,  will  contribute 
to  the  solution  of  that  problem  of  human  life  which  has  tasked 
all  ages. 

On  these  themes  the  perverting  language  of  philosophy  has 
diverted  the  current  of  human  thought  from  its  early  channels. 
The  Hebrew  oracles  acknowledged  no  agency  in  any  realm  of 
nature  but  the  ever-acting  Mind  Almighty.  This  ascription  of 
all  action  in  every  element  to  that  Mind  needs  not  the  apology 
that  such  utterances  were  made  in  the  pomp  of  Eastern  poetry. 
They  are  the  accurate  statements  of  what  was  intended  to  thrill 
all  created  mind.  Never  can  they  be  appreciated  till  resistless 
conviction  of  the  essential  unlikeness  between  mind  and  matter 
pierces  the  mind  through  and  through.  Not  till  then  can  there 
be  an  adequate  conception  of  their  intrinsic  opposition. 

The  discussion  of  these  elementary  truths  will  not  be  ranked 
with  any  abstractions  by  such  as  know  that  all  action  looks  back 
to  principle  no  less  directly  than  all  principle  looks  forward  to 
practice. 


LECTURE. 

A BELIEF  in  the  existence  of  a Divine  Providence 
has  been  peculiar  to  no  age.  It  has  been  ancient  as 
our  race,  and  almost  as  extensive  as  all  the  genera- 
tions of  men.  But  in  precisely  the  thing  in  which 
it  consists  there  has  been  little  harmony.  This 
has  varied  as  the  light  in  which  it  was  contem- 
plated has  been  more  or  less  unclouded  and  intense. 
Antiquity  has  not  been  alone  in  producing  its  Epi- 
cureans, who  allowed  to  the  world  no  other  provi- 
dence than  its  laws  could  exercise  over  it.  Modern 
times  have  been  fruitful  of  a kindred  class.  While 


\ 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


79 


such  have  referred  these  laws  to  the  Infinite  Mind 
as  their  source,  they  have-excluded  from  them  the 
least  subsequent  interference  of  that  mind.  They 
leave  the  mundane  machine  to  operate  under  no 
other  agency  but  that  of  these  laws.  This  class, 
however,  is  less  numerous  than  that  which  accords 
to  God  a general  supervision  of  his  universe,  while 
it  denies  him  every  shadow  of  care  for  individuals. 
The  atom  of  matter,  the  insect  of  a day,  those 
minute  events  which  rise  and  vanish  by  millions 
in  an  hour,  can  never  share  in  the  attention  of 
Jehovah. 

Others  advocate  a providence  which  permits  the 
Father  of  Spirits  to  act  on  mind,  but  never  on 
matter.  To  touch  a single  wheel  in  the  complicated 
machine  of  the  material  universe,  would  prove  im- 
perfection in  the  manner  in  which  he  originally 
constructed  it.  They,  therefore,  demand  hands  off 
on  the  part  of  the  Creator,  unless,  to  establish  a 
new  religion,  he  discloses  almighty  power  in  the 
form  of  miracles.  Though  these  views  are  not  all 
alike  dishonorable  to  the  Almighty  Mind,  the  best 
of  them  fail  to  accord  with  the  records  of  his  Word. 
They  can  not  be  tested,  however,  by  this  infallible 
criterion  till  the  subject  shall  be  guarded  against 
misapprehensions. 

By  Peovidence,  in  this  discourse,  is  understood 
the  care  and  supervision  of  God  over  all  the  uni- 
verse BY  THE  DIEECT  EXEECISE  OF  HIS  ALMIGHTY 
ENEEGY.  At  this  point  we  must  protest  against 


80 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


any  resort  to  that  common  fallacy  of  confounding 
a well-attested  fact  with  the  mode  in  which  it  was 
brought  about.  That  the  infinite  energy  of  God  is 
momentarily  at  work  on  every  part  of  the  universe, 
may,  as  a fact,  have  the  certainty  of  demonstration, 
while  the  manner  of  doing  it  may  lie  as  far  beyond 
our  mental  compass  as  the  profoundest  arcana  in 
the  world  of  spirits.  The  impervious  vail  by  which 
the  latter  is  covered,  is  the  very  same  which  con- 
ceals ten  thousand  other  processes  in  every  field  of 
our  investigation.  How,  then,  without  practicing 
on  ourselves  an  utter  fallacy,  can  we  permit  the 
darkness  which  shrouds  the  manner  of  Divine 
providence  to  shake  our  confidence  in  the  evi- 
dence which  sustains  the  fact  of  that  providence? 
Why  should  this  inquiry  be  embarrassed  by  a de- 
mand made  here  which  is  made  nowhere  else  — a 
demand  repudiated  by  the  very  nature  of  the  case? 
While  the  most  piercing  minds  of  the  race  have  met 
with  no  fact  through  the  whole  range  of  inquiry  the 
manner  of  which  was  not  inscrutable,  why  should 
our  faith  stagger  at  the  unextorted  secrets  in  these 
lofty  movements  of  Jehovah’s  administration?  To 
urge,  therefore,  because  the  manner  of  providence 
operating  is  beyond  our  grasp,  the  fact  of  its  opera- 
tion should  be  brought  into  doubt,  is  an  egregious 
fallacy,  which  should  be  promptly  rejected. 

There  is,  however,  an  important  sense  in  which 
the  agency  of  God,  in  the  exercise  of  his  providence, 
is  not  inscrutable  by  us.  We  know  by  our  own 


DIVINE  TROVIDENCE. 


81 


mental  structure  and  operations  what  is  the  action 
of  invisible  mind.  We  make  our  own  objective,  so 
that  it  reveals  itself  to  us  in  its  action.  Did  not 
this  lofty,  intrinsic  power  of  agency  reside  within 
us,  in  vain  would  the  Infinite  Mind  attempt  to  im~ 
part  to  us  an  idea  of  its  own  agency.  To  conceive 
of  its  mysterious,  self-acting  energy,  I must  be  en- 
robed with  it;  to  know  its  attributes,  I must  possess 
them;  to  conceive  of  its  operations,  I must  exercise 
its  powers.  Of  this  exercise  no  man  ever  cherished 
a shadow  of  doubt — the  certainty  of  this  is  not  less 
than  that  of  his  existence  itself.  The  light  of  con- 
sciousness is  the  only  evidence  in  which  the  origin- 
ating power  of  agency  can  be  known.  Because  the 
human  might  does  not  approach  Divine  power  in 
degreCy  it  is  no  indication  that  they  are  unlike  in 
kind.  The  fact  that  ours  extends  to  only  narrow 
limits,  and  that  God’s  sweeps  over  the  out-limits 
of  the  universe,  creates  no  possible  difference  in 
any  thing  essential  to  free  agency.  If,  then,  the 
infinity  of  unlikeness,  at  other  points,  between  the 
originated  and  the  unoriginated  minds,  can  occasion 
no  difference  in  what  is  essential  to  agency  in  both, 
I know  what  the  agency  of  God  is  with  the  same 
accuracy  with  which  I know  my  own  agency.  Up 
to  the  point  I can  act  on  surrounding  objects  I can 
clearly  see  how  God  can  do  it.  But  to  extend  my 
conceptions  over  the  broad  sphere  of  his  providence, 
I must  imagine  an  agent  whose  energies  transcend 
mine  as  far  as  the  objects  of  his  care  transcend  those 


82 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


of  mine.  I can,  then,  have  no  greater  difficulty  in 
conceiving  of  God's  universal  agency  than  I have 
in  grasping  those  objects  on  which  he  perpetually 
acts.  What  obstacle,  then,  can  arise  to  my  faith 
against  the  never-reposing  energies  of  God  reaching 
every  action  of  the  great  universe,  which  has  not 
equal  force  against  my  faith  in  the  existence  of  the 
universe  ? 

In  the  doctrine  of  Providence  to  which  this  dis- 
course is  devoted,  are  found  the  ideas  of  an  infinite^ 
ever-active  agent;  of  a material  system,  on  every 
part  of  which  his  power  never  ceases  to  work;  of 
created  mind,  on  which  Divine  agency  very  differ- 
ently operates. 

That  the  perpetual  and  universal  action  of  Divine 
power  on  every  part  of  the  material  system  involves 
no  inherent  obstacle,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
creating  agency  has  operated  in  the  same  sphere. 
If  infinite  power  once  acted  in  bringing  all  that 
now  is  out  of  nothing,  why  should  it  not  continue 
to  act  in  preventing  the  same  entities  from,  return- 
ing to  nothing.  To  make  a thing,  and  to  keep  it 
in  a made  state,  must  demand  the  same  kind  and 
degree  of  agency,  though  the  difference  of  our  rela- 
tions to  those  two  classes  of  acts  may  give  them  a 
very  discrepant  appearance.  It  is  the  nature  of 
mind  to  act;  its  sphere  of  agency  is  as  broad  as 
the  compass  of  its  presence.  The  Divine  essence 
being  no  where  absent,  it  can  act  every-where. 

It  should  awaken  no  surprise  that  the  necessity 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


83 


of  a persevering  agent  is  not  equally  obvious  as  the 
necessity  of  a creating  agent.  The  reason  the  latter 
forces  itself  on  all  sane  minds,  and  the  former  is  so 
much  doubted,  exists  not  in  the  difference  between 
the  two  things,  but  in  our  relations  to  them. 

Finding  that  something  is,  the  very  structure  of 
our  mind  carries  us  back  to  its  beginning.  The 
process  is  short,  rapid,  unerring.  The  observer  de- 
termines that  the  thing  has  always  existed — which 
is  impossible,  as  it  has  not  all  perfections;  or  that 
it  made  itself — then  it  must  have  acted  before  it 
existed;  or  that  it  originated  in  infinite  power. 
In  the  last  he  reposes  with  the  most  entire  assur- 
ance of  truth.  But  this  constitutional  necessity  and 
facility  of  proceeding  directly  from  what  exists  to 
him  who  gave  it  existence,  are  wanting  in  our  pas- 
sage from  continued  existence  to  the  ceaseless  action 
of  him  that  upholds  it.  Having  always  observed 
things  remain  as  they  were,  without  a hand  visibly 
to  support  them,  we  do  not  as  readily  mark  the 
connection  between  preservation  and  agency  as  be- 
tween creation  and  agency.  Having  ever  noticed 
regular  movements  in  our  solar  system,  without 
any  perceptible  power  to  produce  them,  we  are  not 
aware  that  the  gulf  is  equally  impassable  which 
separates  between  motion  — or  preservation  — and 
nothing,  as  that  which  separates  between  simple 
being  and  nothing.  We  see  not  at  a glance  why 
the  power  of  continuance  may  not  in  some  way  be 
interwoven  with  the  constitution  of  matter  itself,  or 


84 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


why  it  may  not  have  been  superadded  to  a globe, 
so  as  to  have  been  its  concomitant  without  being 
its  property.  Thus  it  is  there  appears  to  be  scope 
for  both  preservation  and  motion  without  referring 
them  to  God’s  direct  agency,  and  that  agency  is 
much  more  easily  dispensed  with  in  preservation 
than  in  creation.  The  uniformity  with  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  see  the  movements  of  nature 
proceed,  is  so  much  unlike  the  ever-varying  action 
of  all  agents  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  that 
we  more  readily  refer  those  movements  to  the  con- 
stitution of  things  than  to  the  action  of  God.  But 
this  subject  is  not  alone  in  deluding  us  by  mere 
appearances;  otherwise  the  brightest  minds  of  the 
race  would  not  for  thousands  of  years  have  pro- 
nounced this  globe  a plane,  and  stationed  it  in  the 
center  of  the  system  around  which  the  sun  and 
stars  made  their  daily  circuits.  These  deceptions 
have  fled  before  the  corrective  powers  of  generali- 
zation. To  the  same  intellectual  test  should  the 
evidences  of  God’s  agency  be  submitted.  Science 
itself  has  strangely  sanctioned  the  phraseology,  that 
the  LAWS  of  nature  are  the  eflicient  agency  by  which 
the  processes  of  nature  are  carried  forward.  What 
except  a simple  definition  of  these  laws  can  be  requi- 
site to  dissipate  forever  so  gross  a delusion?  Let 
us,  then,  pierce  the  mists  which  have  long  shaded 
this  misapplied  term.  What  is  its  import  in  its 
application  to  the  processes  of  external  nature? 

‘^By  law  is  denoted  a mode  of  existence,  or  an 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


85 


order  of  sequence;"'  that  is,  the  regular  order,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  system  subsists  and  operates. 
But  how  can  the  order  of  the  system  be  substituted 
for  the  mind  that  arranges  it?  How  can  its  opera- 
tions be  thrust  into  his  place  who  operates?  We 
call  the  tendency  of  every  body  toward  its  attract- 
ing center  the  law  of  gravity.  But  what  is  this 
tendency,  this  law,  but  a fact  in  nature — an  event 
of  uniform  occurrence?  Can  this  event  be  its  own 
producer?  Is  it  not  one  thing  to  know  the  gravi- 
tating tendencies  of  bodies,  and  another  to  know 
the  agency  that  moves  them  in  that  order?  Would 
not  my  faith  be  regulated  by  the  same  principle  in 
believing  the  creation  had  no  cause,  as  in  maintain- 
ing that  its  processes  are  the  agency  which  produced 
them?  These  certainly  occupy  spheres  in  the  uni- 
verse which  can  never  be  exchanged.  They  must 
be  those  of  the  act  and  the  actor — of  a cause  and 
an  effect — of  a thing  and  a person — of  what  is  es- 
sentially passive  and  of  what  is  intrinsically  active. 
The  agent  must  know  the  object  for  which  he  acts, 
but  the  act  can  neither  know  its  cause  or  sequence. 
These  immutable  distinctions  were  profoundly  fixed 
in  the  great  mind  of  Newton.  Gravity,”  says  he, 
^^must  be  caused  by  an  agent  acting  constantly  ac- 
cording to  certain  laws.”  (Letter  to  Dr.  Bentley.) 
When  we  affirm  that  laws  which  are  the  mode  of 
an  agent's  action  can  not  by  possibility  be  the 
agent  which  acts,  we  apply  the  remarks  with  the 
very  same  force  to  nature,  order,  mechanism,  or  to 


86 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


any  other  thing  to  which  casual  power  is  tacitly 
ascribed.  We  must,  then,  cease  forever. to  sub- 
stitute the  order  of  action  for  the  agent  that  acts — 
the  rule  for  the  workman  that  operates  by  it — the 
uniformity  with  which  the  processes  of  nature  are 
carried  on  for  that  Infinite  Agent  which  carries 
them  on.  What  possible  efficiency  can  there  be  in 
the  manner  of  acting  after  the  hand  which  adopted 
it  is  withdrawn? 

Such  as  exclude  the  direct  agency  of  God  from 
the  functions  of  material  nature  will  find  by  pro- 
founder scrutiny  their  position  a most  difficult  one. 
Conceding,  as  they  must,  that  a thousand  lofty  pur- 
poses are  accomplished  by  these  functions,  they  are 
compelled  to  maintain  that  mere  matter  does  all 
this  — that  these  far-reaching  designs,  ascribable 
only  to  the  mightiest  intellect,  are  predicable  of 
the  most  lifeless  mass  on  which  the  foot  treads. 
Events  for  illustration  so  crowd  around  us  that  we 
can  scarcely  err  in  the  selection.  Take  that  of  a 
body  suspended  in  the  air,  which  is  attracted  by 
the  earth.  This  attraction  is  action.  But  what 
acts?  The  earth?  Then  the  earth  knows  when 
and  where  the  suspended  body  appears.  Is  it  the 
body  which  acts?  Then  it  must  know  with  what 
degree  of  power  to  act;  and  that  knowledge  must 
be  so  scrupulously  exact  as  never  to  vary  a thou- 
sandth part  of  a grain  in  proportioning  its  momentum 
to  its  quantity,  or  the  millionth  part  of  an  inch  in 
adapting  its  speed  to  the  distances  through  which 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


87 


it  falls.  That  such  calculations  obtain  through  all 
the  movements  of  the  solar  system,  we  have  all  the 
certainty  of  figures  and  mathematics.  Where  do 
the  annals  of  man  speak  of  a genius  adequate  to 
trace  these  endlessly-varying  proportions,  which 
reach  to  every  inch  of  space  and  every  atom  of 
matter?  But  the  demand  for  present  intelligence 
stops  not  at  a mind  which  can  trace  these  relations, 
but  requires  one  that  can  operate  accordantly  wi^h 
them  through  all  the  ages  of  time,  and  over  the 
largest  sweep  of  worlds.  Is  the  dead  earth,  then, 
such  a mathematician,  or  is  the  body  suspended 
above  it  such  a calculative  and  executive  mind? 
That  such  matchless  skill  and  peerless  energy  are 
present  none  doubts.  But  where  are  they  seated? 
In  matter?  Then  matter  is  mind.  In  an  agent? 
Then  behold  the  direct  action  of  God  in  every 
movement  of  nature.  Let  none  imagine  that  God 
has  empowered  matter  to  do  all  this  is  a solution 
of  the  problem.  The  thing  is  impossible.  Matter, 
as  such,  can  not  be  empowered  to  do  this.  It  must 
first  pass  over  from  its  own  dominions  to  that  of 
mind;  that  is,  it  must  retain  its  own  nature,  and 
at  the  same  time  cease  to  be  what  it  is.  Now,  the 
performing  of  this  contradiction  is  not  an  object  of 
power,  though  that  power  be  omnipotent.  So  sure, 
then,  as  matter  can  not  be  mind  while  it  remains 
matter,  it  can  not  act  like  mind  and  be  what  it  is. 
To  speak,  therefore,  of  God’s  empowering  matter  to 
achieve  the  loftiest  functions  of  mathematical  mind, 


88 


LECTUBES  AND  ADDBESSES* 


is  a gross  perversion  of  thought,  and  a downright 
perversion  of  language.  We  speak  with  emphasis — ■ 
the  fact  must  not  escape  us — that  there  can  be  no 
middle  ground : either  what  belongs  to  mere  matter 
can  perform  all  these  mental  functions,  or  the  posi- 
tion that  they  are  not  the  direct  action  of  God  must 
be  abandoned.  We  can  not  permit  the  question  to 
be  obscured  by  loosely  supposing  that  God  may 
carry  on  the  processes  of  nature  so  indirectly  as  to 
justify  the  language,  It  is  done  by  instruments^ 
The  instruments  contended  for  are  of  the  same  class 
of  inert  things  as  the  objects  on  which  they  are 
supposed  to  act.  The  demand  is  equally  imperious 
for  the  immediate  action  of  God  to  produce  any 
change  in  nature,  whether  you  place  nothing  or  ten 
thousand  instruments  between  that  change  and  his 
hand.  The  tenth  or  -ten-thousandth  instrument  can 
no  more  act  than  the  first,  or  than  the  mass  on 
which  it  is  alleged  to  operate.  The  broad  fact 
glaring  on  every  observer  is,  that  changes  take 
place  every  moment  around  us  which  nothing  but 
mind  can  effect.  It  is  too  palpable  to  admit  of 
proof  that  contrivances — adapting  means  to  ends — 
are  before  us  on  the  largest  scale.  If  matter  can 
do  this,  it  is  capable  of  any  thing  we  ascribe  to 
God.  He  may  be  matter,  or  it  may  be  God.  In- 
ertness has  ever  been  deemed  an  essential  property 
of  matter.  This  certainly  excludes  all  action  and 
all  motion  from  being  a property  of  the  same  sub- 
stance. Take  a single  instance  of  contrivance,  as  a 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENGE. 


89 


specimen  of  millions  with  which  nature  is  crowded, 
which  requires  ever^operative  intelligence  and  ex- 
ecutive power.  From  the  deposited  seed  shoots  are 
thrown  out  so  that  one  portion  goes  downward  to 
form  the  roots,  and  the  other  upward  to  develop 
in  the  future  plant.  A failure  in  either  of  these 
arrangements  would  annihilate  vegetation.  Is  the 
seed  aware  of  this?  Has  it  the  precautionary 
power  to  guard  against  it?  Are  the  light,  heat, 
and  moisture  aware  of  the  functions  of  their  office 
in  the  growth  of  this  plant?  Do  they  act  in  con- 
scious concert  in  nicely  combining  their  proportions 
with  far-seeing  reference  to  the  end?  Do  they 
direct  their  operations  with  a skill  so  profound 
that  the  trunk,  the  boughs,  the  leaves,  the  fruit, 
are  so  provided  for  as  to  have  their  relative  pro- 
portions, and  the  nutriment  never  miss  its  way  to 
the  leaves  instead  of  the  fruit?  Here  are  betrayed 
the  workings  of  mind.  Where  is  it  seated?  In 
these  material  properties?  Then  matter  is  no  more 
matter.  It  has  parted  with  every  one  of  its  proper- 
ties; it  has  leaped  the  mighty  gulf  which  divided 
it  from  mind;  it  has  become  one  of  those  Godlike 
beings  which  are  self-active. 

This  illustration  of  random  choice  is  even  less 
striking  than  those  which  multiply  in  their  complica- 
tions as  we  pierce  below  the  mere  surface  of  nature. 
Let  none,  then,  mistake  the  conceded  fact,  that  God 
contrived  and  put  in  operation  the  mundane  system, 
for  the  question  before  us.  Who  continues  its  opera- 


90  LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

tions?  If  we  know  any  thing  of  the  operations  of 
mind  in  the  universe,  do  we  not  find  them  here?  Is 
this  mind  in  matter,  or  in  an  agent  foreign  to  mat- 
ter? This  demand  for  a living  agent  will  continue 
to  be  evaded  unless  it  be  kept  full  in  our  view — un- 
less we  sternly  require  the  direct  conclusion,  that 
all  this  thinking,  operative  agency  must  be  exer- 
cised by  matter  alone,  or  by  Mind  on  the  throne  of 
the  universe.  This  will  enable  us  to  rebuke,  as  by 
the  blast  of  a trumpet,  that  philosophy  which  nom- 
inally places  God:  at  the  helm  of  the  world’s  afiairs, 
but  really  throws  between  him  and  his  creatures 
such  a train  of  agencies  as  utterly  to  cut  them  off 
from  his  supervision.  This  philosophy  concedes  that 
the  ocean  and  the  earth  are  kept  in  being  by  the 
Divine  power,  but  it  denies  that  power  any  direct 
agency  in  the  shower  that  rises  from  the  one  and 
fertilizes  the  other.  The  cause  of  this  must  be 
sought  in  such  agents  as  the  law  of  evaporation,  the 
absorbing  power  of  the  air,  and  the  condensing  proc- 
esses of  the  wind.  Thus  all  these  proximate  causes 
of  the  rain  conspire  to  produce  it  by  their  own  self- 
directing agency,  and  God  is  excluded  as  a cause. 
In  this  very  same  manner  is  the  ever-present  God 
exiled  from  all  the  other  operations  of  nature,  so  as 
to  make  them  strictly  self-directed. 

That  loose  hypothesis  which  ascribes  to  God  a 
general  control  over  his  universe,  while  it  denies  to 
him  an  agency  in  all  the  particular  functions  of  na- 
ture^  has  in  it  the  elements  of  self-subversion.  Is 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


91 


it  possible  that  the  whole  can  be  under  the  direct 
agency  of  God,  and  yet  no  part  of  it  be  under  that 
agency? — that  this  can  be  true  of  the  system,  and 
yet  untrue  of  every  element  composing  the  system? 
How  can  God  control  nature  in  the  aggregate  of  its 
processes,  and  yet  every  law  by  which  these  proc- 
esses go  on  be  independent  of  him?  Can  the  whole 
be  any  thing  but  the  aggregate  of  its  parts?  Ee- 
move  all  these,  and  you  dissipate  the  whole.  If  no 
system  can  exist  in  the  absence  of  its  parts,  God  can 
not  act  on  the  whole  without  acting  on  each  of  its 
parts.  Apply  the  principle  to  our  species.  How 
can  God  act  on  the  whole  race  without  acting  on 
every  nation?  or  on  a single  nation  without  includ- 
ing individuals?  It  must,  then,  be  as  true  that 
God  acts  on  every  atom  of  the  globe,  as  that  he 
acts  on  the  entire  mass  which  these  atoms  compose. 
It  must  be  as  true  that  he  superintends  every  indi- 
vidual man,  as  that  he  does  the  entire  race.  It 
must  be  no  less  certain  of  every  particle  of  my 
body,  than  of  my  whole  body — of  all  the  dew-drops 
of  the  morning,  than  of  the  earth  and  ocean  from 
which  they  were  exhaled.  This  position  is  entirely 
untouched  by  any  multiplication  of  second  causes 
between  the  agent  and  the  effect.  If  these  amount 
to  ten  thousand,  God  must  be  no  less  in  the  last 
than  in  the  first — no  less  in  all  the  intermediate 
ones  than  in  the  two  extremes.  He  acts  in  the  last 
no  less  than  if  none  preceded  it.  He  acts  in  the 
creature  in  the  very  event  which  was  supposed  to 


92 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


supersede  his  action.  Not  only  is  this  entire  chain 
of  events  upheld  by  his  omnipotence,  but  he  lives 
and  acts  along  on  every  link  composing  it. 

What  is  usually  called  the  operations  of  nature 
must,  then,  really  be  the  uniform  action  of  God.  By 
this  is  not  intended  the  result  of  God’s  former  agency, 
or  of  his  occasional  agency,  or  of  his  indirect  agency, 
or  of  his  partial  agency ; but  of  such  an  agency  as 
was  requisite  to  the  creating  of  something  out  of 
nothing.  So  that,  in  the  same  sense  and  with  the 
same  force,  we  affirm  that  without  creating  power 
what  is  could  never  have  been,  we  maintain  that, 
without  the  continued  action  of  the  same  power, 
what  is  could  never  continue  to  be.  Therefore, 
there  can  be  no  more  room  for  something  to  inter- 
vene between  God’s  present  act  in  preserving  na- 
ture and  nature  itself,  than  there  could  have  been 
between  his  creating  acts  and  the  world  he  created. 

If,  then,  any  middle  ground  is  utterly  impossible 
between  the  direct  action  of  God  in  each  movement 
of  nature  and  the  purely  mechanical  theory,  our 
faith  must  be  entire  in  one  or  the  other.  If  the 
machine  of  the  universe  has  been  constructed  to 
operate  with  mechanical  power — if  it  be  self-regu- 
lative and  self-preserving,  then  the  circle  circum- 
scribing all  created  things  excludes  from  them  a 
God.  But  if  mere  matter  be  not  replenished  with 
these  highest  functions  of  mind,  then  all  its  move- 
ments, over  the  whole  sweep  of  the  universe,  are 
those  of  the  Infinite  Deity.  Nor  can  the' truth  of 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


93 


this  conclusion  be  impaired  by  that  analogy  insti- 
tuted between  the  maker  of  a clock  and  the  Artificer 
of  the  world.  ^^When  the  former  has  finished  his 
machine,  it  will  continue  measuring  time  after  the 
maker  of  it  has  retired  to  his  grave.  Why  may 
not?  the  mundane  clock  execute  the  purposes  of  its 
Builder  after  he  has  retired  from  it?'’  By  proving 
this  analogy  to  be  utterly  false,  we  shall  thereby 
neutralize  the  argument  drawn  from  it.  What, 
then,  is  the  whole  work  of  the  clock-maker?  Sim- 
ply to  modify  the  action  of  existing  force  by  a new 
arrangement  of  the  known  properties  of  matter. 
What  is  the  work  of  the  World-Maker?  It  is  to  so 
act  on  every  atom  of  matter  that  its  properties  and 
the  force  that  attends  it  may  not  cease.  In  making 
the  clock  of  the  world  go,  then,  God  must  inces- 
santly supply  that  very  force  without  which  the 
clock  of  art  would  be  motionless  as  death.  Is  it, 
then,  possible  to  conceive  of  two  things  more  radi- 
cally unlike  than  the  demand  of  these  two  machines 
for  the  continued  agency  of  their  fabricators?  If 
the  constructed  clock  runs  solely  because  God’s 
agency  acts  on  all  its  materials,  how  can  it  follow 
that  the  processes  of  nature  would  go  on  were  his 
agency  withdrawn  from  the  system?  It  is,  then,  a 
grand  sophism  to  reason  from  the  movements  of  the 
clock,  in  its  contriver’s  absence,  to  the  movements 
of  nature  in  its  Creator’s  absence. 

The  UNIFOEMITY  with  which  the  Divine  will  acts 
on  nature  has  allured  inquirers  into  the  belief  that 


94 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


this  action  is  mechaniGal.  But  does  not  our  mental 
structure  prove  us  gifted  with  powers  to  pierce  the 
vail  which  uniform  action  draws  over  the  Agent 
which  acts  ? Because  the  course  of  action  witnessed 
among  human  agents  is  often  fitful  and  changing,  is 
it  modest  to  transfer  similar  mutations  to  the*ac- 
tion  of  the  Infinite  Agent  ? Does  the  objector  really 
conceive  that  to  produce  the  uniformity  which  na- 
ture presents  from  age  to  age,  it  was  needful  the 
whole  mass  should  be  one  vast  machine? — that  it 
was  more  difficult  for  God  to  act  uniformly  than  for 
him  to  construct  a complicated  system  to  act  so? 
Aside  from  the  absolute  impossibility  of  thus  making 
a material  system  self-active,  how  would  its  being 
so  relieve  Omnipotence?  Is  not  uniform  and  all- 
pervading  action  as  easy  ^or  him  whose  infinity  pre- 
cludes this  and  all  other  comparison?  Had  God 
made  the  mundane  system  capable  of  all  the  func- 
tions which  we  know  to  be  discharged  in  its  move- 
ments, it  would  be  the  brightest  intelligence  that 
has  ever  flourished  within  the  circle  of  the  sun. 
The  peerless  sagacity  with  which  it  adapts  means  to 
ends,  proves  it  capable  of  the  highest  moral  func- 
tions for  which  created  intellects  are  formed.  Such 
absurdities  must  be  embraced,  or  the  incessant  ac- 
tion of  God  on  nature  must  be  admitted.  For  the 
vain  conclusion  must  be  abandoned,  that  God  has 
thrust  something  in  between  himself  and  the  ma- 
terial universe.  Were  that  something  matter,  the 
case  is  not  relieved;  it  remains  powerless  as  the 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


95 


mass  it  is  supposed  to  move.  Were  it  mind,  then 
we  have  reached  the  Supreme  whom  we  seek,  but 
nothing  between  him  and  his  works. 

Nor  can  it  be  validly  objected  that  to  refer  the 
regular  movements  of  nature  to  the  uniform  action 
of  God,  is  to  remove  all  ground  of  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  nature.  We  demand  with  emphasis. 
Why  does  the  uniform  operation  of  the  Divine  Will 
furnish  a feebler  foundation  for  instruction  from  the 
experience  of  the  past,  and  for  confidence  in  what 
reposes  in  the  bosom  of  the  future,  than  would  the 
most  rigid  mechanical  structure  of  the  universe? 
Can  infinite  energies  and  skill  find  greater  embar- 
rassment in  continued,  uniform  action,  than  in  con- 
structing a machine  to  perform  such  action?  This 
doctrine  of  the  unremitting  agency  of  God  on  every 
atom  of  the  universe,  leaves  scope  for  him  to  vary 
his  operations  as  the  exigencies  of  his  kingdom  may 
require — to  work  both  within  and  beyond  the  broad 
compass  of  his  usual  operations.  This  view  also 
presents  a miracle  in  a most  intense  and  imposing 
light.  As  that  consists  in  a suspension  of  the  so- 
called  laws  of  nature,  if  these  laws  are  God's  action, 
then,  as  no  power  in  the  universe  short  of  Omnipo- 
tence can  suspend  them,  every  miracle  wrought  to 
authenticate  a Divine  message  must  be  the  Al- 
mighty’s work.  Our  principle  discriminates  with 
the  utmost  precision  between  the  Divine  agency  in 
nature  and  in  a miracle.  It  does  not  ascribe  a 
miracle  to  the  hand  of  God,  and  the  operations  of 


96 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


nature  to  a constitution  which  God  gave  it  when  he 
created  it;  but  it  makes  the  one  his  ordinary  action, 
and  the  other  his  extraordinary  action.  It  requires 
a miracle  to  be  viewed,  not  as  a suspension  or  in- 
version of  some  wheel  in  the  complicated  system  of 
instruments  so  as  to  peril  the  regularity  of  its  fu- 
ture movements,  but  merely  the  operation  of  God  in 
a direction  differing  from  that  in  which  he  other- 
wise unceasingly  acts.  It  repudiates  as  preposterous 
the  idea  that  a miracle  is  a sudden  act  of  Jehovah's 
newly-awakened  energies,  which,  after  the  slumber 
of  ages,  have  just  been  summoned  into  requisition — 
that  God  suddenly  arrested  in  its  movements  the 
clock-work  of  the  universe,  which  ages  ago  he  had 
wound  up  to  run  through  all  time  without  his  fur- 
ther interference.  It  is  not  within  the  narrow 
sphere  of  a few  miracles  that  the  Infinite  Hand  is 
in  operation,  but  through  that  broad  range  which 
the  golden  compass  of  creative  skill  had  prescribed 
to  the  universe. 

The  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  so  entirely  har- 
monize with  this  view  of  providence  as  to  give  it 
the  highest  possible  authority.  They  teach  us,  in  a 
thousand  varying  forms,  that  ^^God  upholds  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power."  Not  by  mechan- 
ical laws  which  could  act  in  his  absence — not  by 
powerless  instruments,  inert  as  the  masses  on  which 
they  are  assumed  to  act — not  by  the  constitution 
of  nature,  as  though  the  mere  mode  of  its  existence 
were  the  power  that  preserved  its  being;  but  by 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


97 


that  stupendous  energy,  at  whose  bidding  all  things 
arose  from  total  emptiness.  As  an  object  falls  at 
the  withdrawal  of  the  hand  which  sustained  it,  so, 
it  is  here  intimated,  would  the  creation  sink  were 
Infinite  energies  Avithdrawn  which  now  support  it. 
Thus,  when  we  speak  of  God’s  intimate  presence, 
vastly  more  is  intended  than  the  limitless  diffusion 
of  his  essence.  This  all-pervading  infinity  is  a ne- 
cessity of  his  nature,  but  the  exertion  of  power  is  a 
matter  of  volition,  and  it  is  the  universality  of  this 
exertion  which  is  here  afiirmed.  We  should,  then, 
mark  with  thrilling  interest  the  relations  sustained 
by  ourselves,  and  by  our  Author,  to  the  material 
universe.  In  this  we  meet  him,  as  he  is  never  ab- 
sent from  one  particle  of  it — as  its  movements  are 
his  action.  He  perpetually  addresses  even  our 
senses.  Not  only  is  he  in  the  sun,  in  whose  ra- 
diancy worlds  are  bathing — in  the  stars,  that  have 
for  ages  glittered  on  the  mantle  of  light — in  our 
globe,  which  has  swallowed  a hundred  generations — 
but  in  the  nearest  and  minutest  objects  around  us. 
He  acts  on  the  walls  which  inclose  us,  on  the  seats 
which  we  occupy,  on  the  garments  that  cover  us. 
He  acts  in  every  object  we  touch,  in  every  sight  we 
see,  in  every  sound  we  hear.  He  acts  on  all  the 
limbs  of  our  bodies,  in  every  particle  composing 
them,  in  every  globule  of  blood  which  courses 
through  them,  in  every  breath  of  air  giving  vital- 
ity to  that  fluid.  The  presence  and  action  of  God 
are  not  here  asserted  figuratively,  but  literally.  He 


98 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


acts  on  every  particle  composing  my  frame  as  liter- 
ally and  really  as  I act  in  opening  and  closing  my 
hand.  If,  then,  we  thus  live  in  his  never-reposing 
energies — if  these  surround  us  as  do  the  ocean  waters 
their  inhabitants — if  they  act  through  us  as  does 
the  sunlight  through  the  air — then  have  we  no  ar- 
ticle of  property,  no  companion  in  life,  so  near  us  as 
God — then  may  we  as  readily  escape  from  ourself  as 
from  him.  Though  we  do  not  see  him,  or  feel  him, 
or  hear  him,  our  certainty  of  his  presence  is  no  less 
absolute  than  if,  by  pressure,  by  voices,  visions,  he 
addressed  all  our  senses — no  less  than  if  we  saw 
him  as  we  do  the  glories  of  the  noon — no  less  than 
if  we  felt  him  as  we  do  the  embraces  of  a friend,  or 
heard  him  as  we  do  the  thunder  of  the  clouds. 
With  what  repugnancy,  then,  should  we  spurn 
away  that  pernicious  dogma  which  places  God  at  an 
unapproachable  distance  from  man,  so  that  more 
than  the  visible  heavens  separates  him  from  his 
earthly  orphans!  How  profound,  then,  should  be 
our  reverence — how  hallowed  our  emotions — how 
unintermitting  our  obedience! 

Having  discussed  the  subject  of  Divine  agency  in 
its  relation  to  irresponsible  nature,  we  next  inquire 
INTO  THE  Divine  Eelations  to  Moral  Agents. 

It  is  inherent  in  perfect  governments  to  vary  as 
do  the  classes  of  subjects  under  its  sway.  The  in- 
organic mass,  the  vegetable  organism,  irrational 
brutes,  and  thinking  men,  could  never  be  grouped 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


99 


together  under  the  same  laws.  That  Divine  force, 
which  we  have  explicitly  connected  with  irresponsi- 
ble nature,  can  never  reign  over  probationary  mind. 
That  these  two  classes  of  beings  require  a govern- 
ment dissimilar  as  the  natures  that  compose  them, 
strikes  us  with  the  light  of  intuitive  vision.  There 
is,  indeed,  one  point  at  which  the  Divine  agency  is 
identical  in  its  relation  to  mind  and  matter.  That 
point  is  preservation.  The  demand  for  supporting 
power  is  exactly  equal  in  both;  it  is  absolute  in 
both.  Mind,  no  more  than  matter,  has  any  co5p- 
erating  agency  in  its  continued  existence.  The  in- 
trinsic energy  of  mind  does  not  lie  at  the  point  of 
preservation;  here  it  is  no  less  powerless  than  mat- 
ter. Omnipotence,  therefore,  acts  alone^  no  less  in 
preserving  mind  than  in  keeping  matter  in  being. 
But  the  work  of  mere  preservation  is  the  point  at 
which  the  ways  of  Providence  divide  in  governing 
these  two  substances — mind  and  matter.  In  con- 
trolling the  latter.  Divine  power  is  no  less  absolute 
than  in  bringing  something  out  of  nothing.  In 
governing  the  former,  it  consults  that  inherent  prin- 
ciple of  self-action  without  which  mind  could  not  be 
mind. 

But  to  avoid  a ruinous  blunder  at  the  very 
threshold  of  the  discussion,  let  us  distinguish  be- 
tween the  extent  and  the  nature  of  mental  action. 
Though  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  mind  to  be  self- 
originating  in  its  sphere  of  action,  yet  that  sphere 
is  contracted  within  narrow  and  impassable  limits. 


100 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


It  would  be  alien  to  its  powers  and  relations  for  our 
mind  to  be  free  from  the  control  of  commanding 
authority  and  corresponding  obligations.  This  free- 
dom appertains  only  to  the  Mind  Almighty.  Nor 
is  ours  free  from  the  moral  imbecility  superinduced 
by  sin.  To  glorified  spirits  exulting  in  light  this 
freedom  belongs.  Nor  have  we  immunity  from  the 
sufferings  of  mortality.  This  invests  only  unfallen 
mind.  Nor  have  we  freedom  to  act  independent  of 
OCCASIONAL  causes.  To  whatever  other  mind  this 
independence  may  belongs  it  is  not  the  prerogative 
of  human  mind.  But  the  freedom  of  the  soul 
reaches  precisely  to  that  limit  which  measures  its 
obligations.  Beyond  that  it  can  not  go  with  all 
the  supernatural  aid  afforded  it  by  the  atonement. 
Short  of  that  it  can  not  be  restricted  without 
making  its  obligations  an  injustice.  By  heedfully 
computing  these  restrictions,  we  shall  find  the  fixed 
limits  beyond  which  Providence  never  operates  for- 
cibly on  human  agents.  Between  that  agency,  re- 
stricted by  these  limits,  in  governing  mind,  and 
that  which  preserves  mind  in  existence,  there  lies 
a gulf  too  vast  for  our  intellect  to  span.  Though 
all  our  searchings  may  be  baffled  to  ascertain  the 
precise  point  at  which  God’s  and  man's  agency  meet 
in  human  action,  no  uncertainty  shades  the  terri- 
tory which  divides  between  self-action  and  in- 
strumental ACTION. 

A large  class  of  philosophic  theologians,  both  of 
scholastic  ages  and  modern  times,  have  so  grouped 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


101 


together  all  the  agents  and  instruments  in  the  uni- 
verse as  to  make  them  sustain  essentially  the  same 
relation  to  the  Supreme  Agent,  The  immense  skill 
and  erudition  which  have  been  tasked  from  age  to 
age  to  defend  this  position,  evince  its  intrinsic  dif- 
ficulty, and  the  array  against  it  of  the  common  con- 
victions of  the  race.  This  far-reaching  question  of 
ages,  whether  the  human  mind  be  self  active,  like 
the  Divine  Mind,  should  have  long  since  had  an 
affirmative  adjustment. 

When  it  shall  become  deeply  fixed  in  our  convic- 
tions that  any  middle  way  between  an  instrument 
and  an  agent  is  an  impossibility,  a tenable  position 
will  be  easy  of  attainment.  It  will  then  appear, 
with  intuitive  clearness,  that  man  is  a mere  instru- 
ment^ or  that  he  is,  in  the  proper  sense^  an  agent. 
If  an  instrument,  then  confessedly  irresponsible;  if 
an  agent,  then  in  the  highest  sense  author  of  his 
own  acts.  Most  that  have  ascribed  to  him  the 
former  character,  have  done  so  from  a misconcep- 
tion of  his  relations  to  occasional  causes.  They 
have  identified  his  volitions  with  his  sensibilities. 
And  as  all  men  know  that  their  emotions  and  de- 
sires arise,  in  spite  of  them,  from  the  fixed  relation 
God  has  given  of  the  inward  and  outward  systems, 
these  mental  states  can  indicate  not  a shadow  of 
agency  in  man.  The  removal  of  all  distinction, 
then,  between  the  volitions  and  sensibilities,  is  the 
annihilation  of  all  agency.  But  that  true  psychology 
which  makes  the  volitions  of  the  mind  its  only  ex- 


102 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ecutive  power,  restores  the  Godlike  faculty  of  self- 
action  to  man.  If  our  dependence  on  occasional 
causes  for  action  leaves  untouched  the  self-origin- 
ating power  of  action,  then  should  it  assuredly 
never  be  substituted  for  that  power,  or  in  any 
possible  way  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  it. 

If  there  be  in  the  whole  universe  no  power  out 
of  mind,  and  no  mind  without  power,  then  the  ab- 
sence of  power  is  the  great  gulf  dividing  between 
the  universe  of  matter  and  the  universe  of  mind. 
To  the  one  belongs  the  susceptibility  of  being  acted 
upon  by  energy  from  beyond  itself;  to  the  other,  to 
act  from  within  its  own  resources.  This  spontaneity 
of  action  belongs  to  men,  angels,  God  — to  the  en- 
tire universe  of  mind.  Whatever  is  without  this 
is  thereby  excluded  from  the  grand  inclosure  of 
mind.  It  is  of  necessity,  and  to  eternity,  within  the 
dominion  of  matter.  Did  not  this  self-action  belong 
to  mind,  nothing  had  ever  been.  Mind  was  when 
nothing  else  was.  If  it  ever  acted,  therefore,  it 
must  have  done  so  without  foreign  influence,  as  all 
else  was  then  out  of  being.  Nor  would  any  action 
in  the  universe  ever  have  been  possible  were  it  not 
intrinsic  to  mind  to  act.  As  that  which  can  not 
act  of  itself  can  never  act  at  all,  but  only  be  acted 
upon,  were  it  not  in  mind  to  act,  as  it  can  be  in 
nothing  else  to  act,  all  action  would  have  been 
impossible,  and  total  emptiness  would  now  reign 
alone. 

But  the  question  may  arise,  whether  all  differences 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


103 


between  created  and  uncreated  mind  should  thus  be 
merged  in  this  grand  distinction  — self-activity  of 
mind?  If  self-activity  belongs  to  all  minds,  then 
whatever  distinctions  exist  in  the  created  and  un- 
created minds,  they  leave  this  the  property  of  man 
no  less  than  if  he  were  like  God  in  all  other  re- 
spects. We  know  nothing,  for  example,  of  that 
peculiarity  called  self-existence.  This,  which  is 
the  foundation  of  that  incommunicable  attribute — 
eternity — can  belong  to  no  other.  And  were  it  true 
of  ten  thousand  other  Divine  perfections,  how  would 
that  affect  self- activity j common  to  all  mind?  De- 
pendence is  inseparable  from  created  mind  — inde- 
pendence from  the  creating  mind.  But  dependence 
for  continued  being  can  in  no  way  be  related  to 
independence  in  action  while  being  lasts.  Our  con- 
tinued existence  is  no  less  an  effect  of  omnipotence 
than  was  our  first  existence;  and  as  it  is  an  essen- 
tial quality  of  every  effect  to  be  passive j how  can 
that  affect  the  spontaneity  of  our  action?  The  cir- 
cumstance of  God’s  preserving  the  mind  is  no  other- 
wise related  to  self-activity  than  self-preservation 
would  have  been.  The  preserved  mind  and  the 
preserving  mind  have,  therefore,  the  power  of  self- 
action — a property  common  to  both,  as  it  is  essential 
to  all  mind.  The  dependence  of  our  mind,  therefore, 
at  a point  where  passivity  is  the  only  possible  state 
of  any  being,  can  have  no  conceivable  relations  to 
that  state  of  mind  where  activity  must  be  its  own. 
A clear  conception  of  the  necessary  truth  that  one 


104 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


agency  from  its  nature  excludes  all  other  agencies 
from  every  act  which  is  its  own,  will  convince  us 
that  the  power  of  our  action  is  entirely  within  us. 
The  contradiction  of  making  an  agent  act  can  not 
transpire  within  the  range  of  omnipotence  itself. 
When  Calvin  and  his  school  make  the  volitions  of 
man  to  be  his  own,  and  also  to  be  produced  by 
Omnipotence,  they  overlooked  this  obvious  principle, 
that  a volition  could  from  its  nature  belong  to  none 
but  to  the  mind  producing  it.  If  a volition  be  merely 
the  mind  acting^  does  not  its  very  nature  exclude 
all  other  agents  from  its  production  except  the  mind 
that  wills?  Can  more  cloudless  certainty  be  in  any 
axiom  than  that  nothing  but  power  can  act;  and 
that  this  ceases  to  be  power  at  the  point  where  it 
is  overpowered  ? To  speak,  therefore,  of  making 
an  agent  act  is  utter  confusion  of  ideas,  and  the 
grossest  perversion  of  language.  Of  this  power 
of  originating  volition  we  have  the  same  evidence 
which  attends  all  first  principles — not  the  certainty 
of  consciousness,  but  the  evidence  of  original  sug- 
gestion. Every  man  is  conscious  of  mental  action; 
by  the  structure  of  his  mind  he  refers  the  action  to 
the  perceiving  agent.  Let  him  attempt  a thousand 
times  to  refer  it  to  another — it  is  out  of  his  power. 
His  Creator,  then,  necessitates  self-recognition 
in  determining  the  actor.  Can  there  be,  therefore, 
within  the  precincts  of  mind  another  first  principle 
more  firmly  fixed  at  the  basis  of  human  knowledge? 
Is  there  not  upon  me  the  same  constitutional  neces- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


105 


sity  of  referring  my  inward  acts  to  myself  as  of  re- 
ferring any  quality  to  a substance,  or  any  event  to 
a cause?  The  incontestable  conclusion  is,  that  the 
Supreme  Agent  never  produces  the  acts  of  subor- 
dinate agents  — that  he  never  does  it  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  the  agency  of 
others,  by  any  array  of  motives,  or  by  any  other 
thing  or  being  in  the  universe. 

Is  it  alleged  that  the  proof  is  equally  invincible 
that  God  produces  all  human  acts ; that  we  should 
never  reject  one  of  these  two  propositions,  because 
we  are  unable  to  perceive  the  harmony  of  both; 
^Hhat,  therefore,  we  are  bound  to  believe  both  that 
man  is  a free  agent  and  that  God  produces  all  his 
volitions?’'  Never  was  there  a sophism  coiled  in 
so  brief  a statement  more  summarily  subservient  to 
error.  There  are  a thousand  examples  in  the  Bible 
in  which  the  point  of  harmony  between  two  ideas 
lies  beyond  our  mental  compass.  But  what  has 
this  to  do  with  contradictions?  The  darkness  of 
mystery  covers  the  former  — the  light  of  evidence 
shows  the  conflict  of  the  latter.  The  distinction  is 
so  glaring  between  unperceived  harmony  and  direct 
opposition  in  ideas,  that  the  one  will  be  the  expe- 
rience of  all  created  mind  forever,  and  the  other 
has  no  existence  but  in  misconception.  This  is  pre- 
cisely the  distinction  between  the  alleged  and  the 
real  state  of  the  case  before  us.  The  difficulty  is 
not  in  being  unable  to  show  how  it  is  so,  but  in 
clearly  perceiving  that  it  is  impossible  to  be  so. 


106 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


By  thus  confounding  simple  obscurity  with  palpable 
contradiction,  error  has  escaped  detection,  and  truth 
has  languished  under  the  most  unjust  imputations. 
We  protest  against  placing  at  eternal  odds  these 
immutable  principles  of  truth.  It  is  authorizing  a 
test  by  which  the  highest  verities  may  be  brought 
into  doubt,  and  the  most  repugnant  principles  in- 
dicated as  truths. 

In  passing,  a glance  at  least  must  be  taken  at  the 
objection  found  in  God’s  foreknov/ledge  against  man’s 
freedom.  This  was  urged  by  the  school  of  necessi- 
tarians, both  of  the  fifth  century  and  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  They  alleged  that  ^Ghe  foreknowl- 
edge of  God  precluded  the  possibility  of  freedom 
in  the  will  of  man;  that  this  certainty  of  events 
could  never  allow  of  their  occurring  otherwise;  that, 
therefore,  man’s  freedom  in  acting,  and  God’s  fore- 
knowledge of  his  acts,  could  never  both  be  true.” 
Have  the  distinguished  advocates  of  this  binding 
influence  of  God’s  knowledge  on  man’s  powers  ap- 
plied their  principle  through  the  whole  range  of  its 
legitimate  bearings?  Have  they  traced  it  to  not 
only  whatever  is  done  by  man,  or  angel,  or  devil, 
but  to  every  possible  achievement  of  Almighty  God 
himself?  Can  it  be  doubted  whether  the  Infinite 
Mind  knows  its  own  volitions?  Must  not  that 
knowledge  bind  him  with  the  same  fetters  with 
which  it  necessitates  every  human  volition?  The 
sphere  of  the  Divine  knowledge  being  infinite,  it 
must  have  included  all  the  acts  of  his  omnipotence, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


107 


even  when  that  had  no  field  for  action  but  that 
mind  itself.  Do  its  advocates  perceive  that  they 
thus  dethrone  Omnipotence  — that  they  reduce  the 
great  God  to  a mere  instrument  of  foreign  power? 
They  can  not  be  permitted  to  rest  in  a partial  ap- 
plication of  this  desolating  principle.  It  must  have 
influence  no  where,  or  it  must  sweep  over  all  the 
conceivable  agencies  in  the  universe.  It  must  leave 
man  free,  or  it  must  have  bound  his  Maker  from 
eternity.  Had  these  fearful  bearings  of  God’s  fore- 
knowledge suggested  themselves  to  Luther,  he  could 
never  have  pronounced  it  ^^a  thunderbolt  to  dash 
to  atoms  man's  free  will."  The  fallacy  of  this  con- 
clusion, from  the  certainty  of  events  which  God  s 
foreknowledge  of  them  secures  to  him,  should  be 
clearly  exposed.  The  fallacy  lies  in  confounding 
causal  necessity  with  axiomatical  necessity.  The 
former  consists  in  a producing  power;  the  latter, 
in  the  impossibility  of  an  event  cotemporaneously 
being  in  two  opposite  states.  The  one  regards  the 
agency  by  which  it  was  brought  about;  the  other, 
merely  the  fact  of  its  being  as  it  is.  The  one  con- 
nects the  event  with  its  cause;  the  other  has  not 
the  remotest  reference  to  cause.  To  confound  these 
two  most  dissimilar  kinds  of  necessity,  which  are 
no  more  alike  than  the  order  of  ideas  and  an  act 
of  creation,  can  not  but  result  in  fallacious  conclu- 
sions. This  clear  perception  between  what  causes 
an  event  and  what  necessitates  it  to  not  be  some- 
thing else  after  it  has  occurred,  will  divest  perfect 


108 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


knowledge  of  the  event  of  every  shadow  of  causal 
relation  to  it. 

The  proper  agency  of  man  and  the  causal  neces- 
sity of  his  volitions  are  mutually  exclusive.  What- 
ever evidence  evinces  the  presence  of  one  proves 
the  absence  of  the  other.  All  the  claims  of  God, 
solemnly  urged  upon  man  in  the  Divine  Word, 
make  the  grand  assumption  that  it  is  he,  not  his 
Maker,  which  is  to  act.  This  entire  class  of  Divine 
assumption,  involved  in  every  written  word  uttered 
from  heaven,  is  the  highest  conceivable  proof  of  the 
principle  assumed.  The  mode,  therefore,  in  which 
Divine  Providence  operates  on  the  human  mind,  in 
all  its  actings,  is  totally  unlike  that  in  which  it 
directs  irresponsible  beings.  It  acts  on  mind  by 
gentle  incentives,  surrounding  it  by  motives  like 
circles  of  conflicting  advisers.  But  if  the  world  of 
mind  and  the  world  of  matter  are  thus  placed  from 
each  other,  at  a distance  which  can  never  be  re- 
moved or  diminished  — if  the  former  be  invested 
with  a power  like  God,  and  the  latter  be  no  less 
without  it  than  nonentity  itself — if  one  can  know 
itself  and  the  mighty  Agent  which  kindled  its 
powers  into  intellectual  being,  and  the  other  know 
not  even  its  own  existence  — how  much  more  does 
mind  than  matter  deserve  the  ever-active  care  of 
Providence?  All  the  evidence  proving  God’s  con- 
stant agency  on  matter  must  avail  to  show  his  care 
of  mind,  as  what  is  unconscious  must  have  been 
made  and  preserved  for  that  which  is  conscious. 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


109 


As  we  have  just  seen,  God  actually  pervades  all 
the  system — that  he  is  in  all  hight  and  all  depth — 
in  what  is  vast  and  in  what  is  minute — in  the  float- 
ing atom  and  in  the  rolling  world  — in  the  fall  of 
the  sparrow  to  the  ground  and  in  the  spheres  of 
the  mundane  system — in  the  life  of  the  insect  of  a 
day  and  in  all  the  animal  tribes  that  people  the 
globe ; as  we  have  shown  this  stupendous  care 
ramifies  all  these  extremes,  how  can  it  be  absent 
from  those  for  whom  this  physical  system  was  con- 
structed? Beings  glowing  in  their  Maker’s  image 
can  not  be  abandoned  of  his  never-sleeping  care  to 
perpetual  orphanage. 

Let  us,  then,  examine  the  scope  of  his  Peovi- 
DENCE,  as  exercised  toward  us  in  the  variety  of  the 
humoM  character  and  condition. 

Though  every  man’s  action  belongs  entirely  to 
himself  no  less  than  if  he  were  self-sustaining,  the 
results  of  his  actions  belong  to  an  economy  which 
operated  before  he  existed.  That  the  thoughts, 
feelings,  volitions,  and  affairs  of  men,  are  under 
the  inspecting  and  guiding  care  of  God,  the  Scrip- 
tures, combining  with  the  nature  of  moral  govern- 
ment, make  indubitable.  The  aeronaut  may  retain 
his  weight  or  cast  it  down,  but  he  can  not  control 
the  rate  of  speed  at  which  it  shall  fall,  or  the  effects 
it  shall  produce  in  what  it  strikes.  The  act  of  cast- 
ing it  down  was  his  — the  laws  governing  its  fall 
were  God’s.  The  principle  illustrated  by  this  is 
universal  in  its  application.  The  agent  is  sole 


110 


LECTUEE3  AND  ADDRESSES. 


author  of  his  acts,  but  Providence  modifies  their 
bearings.  This  principle  is  every-where  exemplified 
in  the  graphic  stories  of  the  Jewish  patriarchs,  in 
the  inspired  history  of  the  judges  and  kings  of 
Israel,  and  in  the  picture,  divinely  drawn,  of  the 
prominent  actors  in  the  New  Testament.  Had  the 
history  of  other  nations  been  sketched  by  the  same 
Heaven-guided  hand,  in  its  most  striking  exhibitions 
would  be  found  the  recognition  of  the  same  prin- 
ciple. Such  a history  of  the  race  would  trace  the 
Divine  Hand,  not  alone  in  the  destruction  of  Car- 
thage being  occasioned  by  the  sight  of  a fig  in  the 
Senate  of  Eome,  or  the  detection  of  the  gunpowder 
plot  by  the  finding  of  a lost  letter,  but  in  rearrang- 
ing the  entire  train  of  human  transactions,  and  in 
giving  to  it  a new  direction.  The  fact  that  such 
an  agency  presides  over  the  ordinary  business  affairs 
of  men  is  clearly  assumed  by  St.  James,  where  he 
teaches  that,  in  matters  of  mere  traffic,  ^^Ye  ought 
to  say.  If  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live,  and  do  this 
or  that.”  The  same  principle  of  God  s controlling 
human  events  is  involved  in  the  Divine  assurance 
of  answer  to  prayer.  This,  in  a thousand  instances, 
supposes  the  bestowment  of  that  on  the  suppliant 
which  he  would  not  otherwise  receive.  Did  not  the 
Supreme  Agency  control  all  events,  how  could  this 
assurance  be  true  ? How  could  he  suspend  their  par- 
ticular application  on  the  free  act  of  his  servants’ 
prayers?  How  could  he  do  this  through  the  whole 
range  of  the  millions  of  his  supplicating  creatures? 


DIVINE  PKOVIDENCE. 


Ill 


Is  it,  then,  objected  that  ^Hhis  arrays  the  com- 
mon administration  of  God  in  the  character  of  a con- 
tinued miracle?’’  This  is  true  in  a single  aspect, 
but  not  so  as  to  give  any  force  to  the  objection. 
The  power  that  preserves  our  existence — that  an- 
swers our  prayers  for  temporal  benefits,  and  that 
works  miracles  for  the  establishing  of  a religion, 
clothes  the  same  Agent,  and  is  exercised  with  the 
same  directness.  But  this  identity  in  the  Agent 
and  directness  in  his  operations  leave  scope  for  all 
needful  distinction  in  these  various  departments  of 
Divine  action.  The  work  of  preservation,  consisting 
in  God’s  incessant  action,  makes  no  demand  for  his 
departure  from  uniformity  of  action.  The  work  of 
answering  prayer,  in  controlling  some  external 
events  in  the  suppliant’s  behalf,  is  action  by  a Hand 
so  concealed  as  not  seeming  to  depart  from  its  uni- 
form mode  of  action.  A miracle  is  God  suspending 
his  usual  operations,  and  acting,  in  that  instance,  in 
another  direction,  to  certify,  for  a great  public  pur- 
pose, his  direct  interference.  The  variety  of  the 
Divine  action,  therefore,  in  these  three  diSerent 
spheres,  exactly  corresponds  to  the  variety  of  ob- 
jects had  in  view.  These  objects  being  continued 
existence,  the  encouragement  of  piety,  and  the  au- 
thentication of  a new  religion,  all  demand  direct 
Divine  agency,  but  that  agency  diversified  in  its 
mode  of  acting  so  as  to  answer  respectively  these 
ends.  The  first  purpose — preservation — is  carried 

on  with  so  entire  a uniformity  as  to  vail  the  power 

10 


112 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES- 


which  acts.  The  second — the  support  of  piety — is 
performed  with  a skill  which  conceals  any  marked 
arrest  in  the  current  of  affairs.  The  third — ^the 
authentication  of  new  truth — strikes  the  senses  of 
men  with  an  overpowering  conviction  of  God’s 
agency  in  the  event.  The  directness  of  the  action 
and  the  identity  of  the  Agent,  in  these  three  spheres, 
can,  by  no  means,  occasion  any  clashing  in  the  ob- 
jects. Did  supernatural  agency  often  exert  itself  in 
the  form  of  miracles,  the  purposes  of  society  could 
not  fail  to  be  frustrated.  For  example,  were  the 
day  frequently  to  be  prolonged,  as  by  Joshua — bread 
often  to  be  multiplied,  as  by  our  Lord— -or  the  dead 
numerously  to  be  raised,  as  the  widow’s  son,  the 
settled  principles  of  social  life  would  be  ruinously 
shaken.  The  alarming  disturbance  in  the  settled 
order  of  nature  would  introduce  confusion  in  the 
seasons,  and  peril  the  harvests  of  every  clime;  or 
the  incentives  to  diligence  would  be  utterly  want- 
ing, and  the  chill  of  apathy  reduce  society  to  a 
stagnant  mass ; or  the  care  of  life  would  be  fearfully 
abandoned,  and  persons  so  numerously  disappear 
that  the  pangs  of  the  surviving  and  the  waste  of 
society  would  become  insupportable.  But  the  im- 
portance of  each  of  these  spheres  of  Divine  action 
remaining  distinct,  can  create  not  the  slightest  ob- 
stacle to  the  directness  of  that  action. 

In  accordance  with  this  directness  of  God’s  agency 
in  all  these  departments,  are  the  unequivocal  ascrip- 
tions of  his  Word.  These  no  more  exclude  his  hand 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


113 


from  the  ordinary  movements  of  nature,  or  from  the 
common  events  of  life,  than  from  the  most  over- 
whelming displays  of  miraculous  agency.  They  ar- 
range all  the  movements  and  all  the  elements  of  the 
universe  in  one  grand  array  of  instrumentalities, 
instinct  with  no  life  but  his  action.  If  these  run 
on  his  messages — fulfill  his  commandments — execute 
his  counsels,  they  operate  only  as  instruments.  If 
the  falling  shower  supplies  the  thirsty  fields,  it  is 
our  '^Father  in  heaven  who  sends  it  on  the  just  and 
unjust.’'  If  the  valleys  smile  with  verdure,  it  is 
^^God  that  clothes  the  grass  of  the  field.”  Does  the 
diurnal  revolution  bring  to  us  the  sweet  vicissitudes 
of  day  and  night  ? It  is  he  that  turns  the  shadow 
of  death  into  the  morning,  and  maketh  the  day  dark 
with  night.”  When  the  fearful  powers  of  nature 
are  at  war,  Flames  of  fire  are  his  messengers,  and 
stormy  winds  fulfill  his  word.” 

By  another  class  of  Scriptures,  the  Infinite  agency 
is  made  equally  direct  in  the  most  ordinary  events 
of  individual  life.  If  I languish  in  sickness,  I am 
assured  ^Hhat  the  rod  of  God  is  upon  me.”  Is  my 
guidance  safe  through  the  labyrinth  of  perplexing 
events?  It  is  in  harmony  with  that  comprehensive 
promise,  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him,  and  he 
will  direct  thy  paths.”  Do  mountainous  calamities 
press  me  down  past  my  power  of  endurance?  Point- 
ing me  to  his  ever-active  agency,  God  says,  ^^Call 
on  me  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  I will  deliver 
thee.”  Then,  ^Ghou  shalt  not  be  afraid  of  the  pest- 


114 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ilence  tliat  walketh  in  the  darkness,  nor  for  the 
destruction  that  wasteth  at  noonday/' 

Nor  can  it  be  urged  that  these  explicit  assur- 
ances of  interference  with  our  ordinary  events  be- 
long to  the  miraculous  portion  of  the  Jewish  econo- 
my; for  the  very  same  agency  is  recognized  in  the 
Christian  Scriptures.  They  are  replete  with  pas- 
sages which  teach  the  doctrine  involved  in  the  assur- 
ance that  God  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads,  so  that 
one  can  not  drop  from  its  place  without  his  notice. 
Why  are  good  men  forbidden  to  indulge  carking 
care  for  to-morrow  ? Because  their  Heavenly  Father 
careth  for  them.  That  is,  his  care  for  them  extends 
to  their  little  wants  of  to-morrow.  The  inspired  ex- 
pressions here  grouped  together  in  the  first  class, 
are  clearly  expressive  of  God’s  agency  in  the  most 
ordinary  processes  of  nature — in  the  successive  re- 
currence of  day  and  night,  and  in  those  similar 
movements  in  the  material  system,  which  have  ever 
been  uniform  since  the  creation  arose.  Those  in  the 
second  class  show,  with  the  clearness  of  light,  that 
every  event  in  the  good  man’s  history  is  under  the 
immediate  control  of  Almighty  Power.  And  such 
as  the  third  class  represents  exhibit  the  manner  in 
which  devout  prayer  modifies  the  Infinite  counsels 
toward  earnest  suppliants.  But  not  only  do  large 
classes  of  Scriptures  teach  this  direct  agency  of 
Providence  in  these  various  spheres,  it  is  required 
by  the  broad  principles  on  which  revelation,  as  a 
whole,  proceeds.  The  abundant  evidence  of  this. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


115 


inherent  in  the  nature  and  purposes  of  a revelation 
to  man,  might  be  readily  educed  did  not  our  limits 
preclude  the  discussion.  Nor  can  we  more  than 
hint  at  the  demand  of  government,  for  this  direct 
agency,  on  the  perfections  of  the  Governor.  These 
are  such  as  not  only  to  prove  them  adequate  to 
such  agency,  but  as  to  show  the  government  defect- 
ive without  it.  So  deeply  is  the  Divine  omniscience 
stamped  with  infinity ^ as  to  make  the  withholding 
of  God’s  knowledge  from  any  object  an  impossibility. 
The  greatest — the  smallest  in  the  whole  chain  of 
being,  with  all  the  intermediate  links  of  that  chain, 
must  be  naked  and  open  to  that  broad  and  piercing 
eye.  Omnipresence — the  universal  diffusion  of  God’s 
essence — equally  precludes  his  absence  from  any  ex- 
isting thing;  and  such  are  his  governmental  rela- 
tions as  never  to  be  an  inactive  spectator.  His  al- 
mightiness  is  eternal  security  against  fatigue  by  any 
amount  of  incessant  care  and  effort.  Power  without 
limits  must  be  without  exhaustion.  Nor  is  there  a 
moral  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature  which  does 
not  call  into  requisition  these  natural  attributes  in 
the  exercise  of  this  direct  agency. 

Can  a being,  glowing  in  the  full-orbed  splendor 
of  such  perfections — perfections  all  radiant  with 
holiness — fail  to  manage  the  events  of  the  universe, 
to  counteract  sin,  and  bring  in  an  everlasting  right- 
eousness? To  Jehovah  sin  is  infinitely  hateful,  and 
would  never  have  broken  in  on  the  order  of  his 
government,  but  for  the  self-perversion  of  created 


116 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


agents.  Nor  would  the  loathsome  monster  survive 
an  hour,  but  for  the  intrinsic  demand  of  agency  to 
remain  unforced  forever.  The  intense  opposition  of 
these  two  antagonisms  makes  it  impossible  that  the 

Father  of  lights”  should  not  incessantly  operate 
to  counteract  this  frightful  contagion  of  his  uni- 
verse. No  bound  but  non-interference  with  free- 
agency  can  limit  that  operation. 

To  allege  that  a moral  governor  can  see  with  in- 
difference the  infraction  of  his  holy  law,  is  too  shock- 
ing to  require  refutation.  But  to  affirm  that  God 
exerts  no  agency  in  suppressing  rebellion,  is  not  less 
blasphemous.  This  necessity,  therefore,  of  God’s 
direct  agency,  in  all  transpired  events  under  his 
government,  arises  out  of  the  very  nature  of  these 
perfections  on  which  his  government  rests. 

As  it  is  certain  that  the  physical  system  of  the 
universe  runs  up  into  the  moral  system,  and  has  the 
accomplishment  of  its  grand  design  in  this,  the  evi- 
dence of  direct  agency  in  the  one  is  the  proof  of  it 
in  the  other. 

The  ancient  objection — a thousand  times  refuted — 
^Ghat  it  would  be  unworthy  of  an  Infinite  Mind  to 
occupy  itself  with  concerns  which  are  below  the  at- 
tention of  a wise  man,”  is  rendered  powerless  by  the 
simple  fact  that  this  same  Mind  originated  these 
very  objects.  Can  they  be  worthy  to  have  occupied 
creating  power,  and  unworthy  to  engage  superin- 
tending care?  Indeed,  the  fact  that  they  are  the 
fruit  of  that  power  and  skill  is  an  absolute  indem- 


DIVINE  PKOVIDENCE. 


117 


nity  against  their  being  abandoned  by  the.  same 
Infinite  Agent.  How  is  it  possible  more  daringly 
to  impeach  the  Divine  character,  than  to  suppose 
our  race,  and  the  physical  system  to  which  it  is 
related,  abandoned  by  the  Father  of  spirits?’' — 
than  to  suppose  these  minds,  ^^made  pictures  of  his 
own  eternity,”  kindled  into  a burning  desire  to 
drink  unceasingly  at  the  fountain  of  his  own  bliss, 
should  be  cruelly  cut  off  from  his  supervision?  It 
requires  no  abstruse  process  to  show  that  this  rejec- 
tion of  God’s  providence  involves  the  overthrow  of 
his  justice.  Convinced  of  this,  the  ancient  Epicure- 
ans rejected  the  latter  when  they  denied  the  for- 
mer. Those  acute  minds  maintained  that  ^Gn  the 
Divine  Mind  there  was  a susceptibility  of  neither 
favor  nor  anger.”  Modern  Epicureans,  far  less  con- 
sistent, embrace  the  moral  character  of  God,  while 
they  reject  the  only  cogent  evidence  that  any  such 
character  invests  him.  How  can  a single  moral 
perfection  adorn  the  Supreme  Mind  if  it  never  in- 
terpose to  favor  virtue,  or  to  discountenance  vice  ? — 
if  it  remain  an  indifferent  spectator  to  the  fierce 
moral  conflict  of  the  universe?  How  could  this 
indifference  be  more  explicitly  and  tremendously 
demonstrated  than  by  such  utter  non-interference? 

That  our  nature  is  moral,  and  demands  such  su- 
pervision, is  made  indubitable  by  great  facts  in  our 
constitution.  These  are  recognized  by  experience 
and  revelation.  When  the  Scriptures  asserted  that 
^Ghe  Gentiles  were  a law  unto  themselves,”  they 


118 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


affirmed  a fact  of  the  moral  history  of  the  whole 
species  — one  entirely  harmonizing  with  universal 
experience.  What  generation  of  men  was  ever 
known  to  approve  of  wrong ^ as  such;  or  to  disap- 
prove of  right j in  this  character?  When  was  vice 
ever  known  to  promote  the  wellbeing  of  man,  or 
virtue  to  subvert  his  interests?  This  double  proof 
of  our  moral  nature,  arising  from  our  own  mental 
structure,  and  from  our  unchanging  relations  to  the 
system  around  us,  points  with  equal  directness  to 
such  a nature  in  the  all-originating  Mind.  Could 
a moral  nature  be  in  us  and  not  in  him,  this  high- 
est tendency  of  our  being  would  find,  in  the  whole 
universe,  no  corresponding  object.  A gulf  which  no 
duration  could  bridge  would  divide  us  from  him — 
the  discrepancy  would  be  an  eternal  bar  to  all  hu- 
man communion  with  God.  These  never-changing 
susceptibilities  within  us,  then,  must  prove  the 
ceaseless  agency  of  God  for  virtue,  or  blaspheme  his 
throne.  Nor  will  the  retributive  power,  which  is 
so  deeply  seated  in  our  physical  and  social  constitu- 
tion, admit  of  any  other  conclusion. 

How  is  it  possible  to  view  the  punishment  ever 
inflicted  by  vicious  habits,  according  to  the  laws  of 
this  twofold  constitution,  without  finding  it  a fear- 
ful description  of  God’s  changeless  hostility  to  vice? 

Some  of  the  deepest  lessons  from  heaven,  taught 
by  the  invisible  God,  have  been  inculcated  by  acts. 
And  what  acts  could  be  more  expressive  of  the 
moral  nature  of  God  than  this  moral,  physical,  and 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


119 


social  constitution,  which,  he  has  so  deeply  stamped 
on  man.  When,  by  this  constitution,  the  offender 
is  found  inevitably  to  suffer  disgrace,  poverty,  dis- 
ease, mental  agony,  or  an  untimely  end,  how  could 
the  Author  of  this  structure  more  distinctly  an- 
nounce his  abhorrence  of  vice  by  the  blast  of  a 
trumpet  from  heaven? 

But  the  direct  agency  of  Providence  is  more 
strikingly  visible  in  those  sudden  inflictions  of  high- 
handed wickedness  which  have  smitten  nations  and 
individuals.  Scarcely  is  there  an  ancient  people, 
sunk  to  the  grave  of  nations,  whose  history  makes 
no  record  of  some  avenging  stroke  of  Providence. 
Whole  nations  have  also  been  startled  by  sudden 
visitations,  which  have  arrested  the  dark  and  bloody 
career  of  individuals.  The  mysterious  detection 
of  crime,  which  had  long  eluded  the  searching  eye 
of  justice — the  rush  of  vengeance  on  the  reckless, 
while  the  words  of  blasphemy  were  yet  scorching 
their  lips — the  frightful  fall  of  tyrants,  while  regal- 
ing on  the  groans  of  their  cherished  victims — the 
tragic  fate  of  persecutors,  who,  like  Herod,  have 
dropped  by  a sudden  stroke  from  a viewless  hand : 
these,  and  kindred  interpositions,  with  which  his- 
tory is  replete — at  which  the  boldest  offenders  have 
shuddered — are  vouchers  for  an  ever  active  Provi- 
dence. 

It  is  not  unknown  to  the  advocates  of  God’s 
direct  agency  that  its  opposers  have  made  it  im- 
pugn his  goodness.  They  have  pointed  to  those 

II 


120 


LECTUBES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


severe  calamities  whicli  have  darkened  the  sphere 
of  man,  and  triumphantly  demanded  whether  God 
is  their  inflictor.  Is  it  not  amazing  that  it  should 
have  escaped  these  objectors,  that  the  evils  of  which- 
they  complain  no  less  impugn  Divine  goodness  by 
resulting  from  their  mechanical  universe  than  from 
the  direct  agency  of  its  author?  Has  it  not  already 
been  made  clear  as  light  that  no  kind  or  number  of 
intervening  instruments  can  diminish  or  even  modify 
the  responsibility  of  the  cause?  Does  not  God  act 
*on  precisely  the  same  principle  in  making  the  in- 
fliction by  his  own  hand  and  in  making  it  by  the 
working  of  a system  which  he  established  thou- 
sands of  years  since?  The  sole  question  is,  has 
God  done  it  ? not  with  what  degree  of  indirectness 
has  he  done  it? 

As,  then,  the  objection  lies  with  equal  force 
against  the  mechanical  scheme  as  against  that  of 
direct  agency,  if  it  have  validity  at  all,  it  strikes  at 
the  rectitude  of  Jehovah,  and  is  purely  of  an  infidel 
character.  No  solution  is  found  of  this  problem  in 
the  assertion  ^Ghat  these  evils  are  the  results  of 
general  laws,  which  laws  are  the  foundation  of  the 
regularity  of  nature,  and  the  source  of  numberless 
blessings  to  man.’'  The  light  of  evidence  has  ban- 
ished every  shadow  of  agency  from  law,  and  shown 
that  it  is  merely  a uniform  manner  of  an  agent’s 
action.  Besides,  all  that  the  Supreme  Agent  pro- 
duces has  precisely  the  same  relation  to  his  char- 
acter and  to  his  creatures,  when  mixed  up  with  ten 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE, 


121 


% 

thousand  other  arrangements,  as  if  remaining  alone 
in  eternal  separation. 

But  the  objection  is  divested  of  all  its  apparent 
validity  by  tlie  two  great  facts  of  man’s  history, 
that  he  had  apostatized,  and  that  he  has  been 

EEDEEMED. 

If  the  principles  be  tenable  which  are  vindicated 
in  this  discourse,  then  the  inference  is  just  that  in 
the  universe  there  are  two  classes  of  agents.  These 
are  the  Creator  and  the  minds  he  has  created. 
The  respects  in  which  these  two  classes  of  agents 
differ,  and  in  which  they  are  similar,  have  been 
jointly  indicated.  This  first  great  Agent,  pecul- 
iar in  his  unbeginning  being,  unbounded  in  his 
never-tiring  energies,  immaculate  in  his  unborrowed 
purity,  and  undimmed  in  the  glory  of  his  harmo- 
nious perfections,  was  once  alone.  Had  he  continued 
alone j only  bliss  had  been;  had  merely  the  material 
system  arisen,  still  naught  but  bliss  had  been.  An 
ability  to  do  right  is  essential  to  the  power  of  doing 
wrong.  The  former  always  invested  the  Infinite 
One;  the  latter  can  never  belong  to  him.  Of  this 
HE  is  gloriously  incapable.  All  moral  qualities  are 
ultimately  tested  by  his  perfections.  For  the  same 
reason  these  never  began  to  be,  they  can  never  cease 
to  be  what  they  are.  The  very  idea  that  God  could 
do  wrong  involves  in  it  the  abolition  of  the  only 
test  by  which  to  determine  the  wrong.  Could  this 
first  Agent — ^Hhe  Ancient  of  Days'' — therefore,  do 
wrong,  there  would  remain  in  the  whole  universe 


122 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


no  means  of  testing  any  quality  of  character.  The 
noon  of  holiness  and  the  midnight  of  guilt  would 
blend  their  lights  and  shades  in  one  homogeneous 
mass.  But  the  eternal  bar  to  self-perversion  is 
found  in  the  eminence  of  infinite  perfections — the 
necessity  of  his  nature  being  what  it  is.  All  acts 
are  possible  to  him  which  are  objects  of  power,  but 
to  break  the  harmony  of  infinite  perfections  is  not 
such  an  object.  The  internal  and  absolute  necessity 
of  the  existence  of  those  unbeginning  perfections  is 
an  eternal  pledge  to  the  universe  of  the  Divine 
rectitude.  Whatever,  therefore,  clashes  with  holi- 
ness has  flowed  from  another  fountain.  Created 
agents  must  as  truly  be  its  author  as  God  is  their 
author.  Not  only  is  the  reverse  incapable  of  proof, 
but  impossible  to  be  so.  As  we  have  seen,  what- 
ever evidence  proves  God  can  not  sin  demonstrates 
that  his  intelligences  can;  because  sin  is  in  the  uni- 
verse, and  none  but  a moral  nature  could  have 
introduced  it. 

Another  conclusion  authorized  by  these  principles 
is  the  visibility  of  God's  invisible  agency.  If  only 
mind  can  act — if  there  be  action  wherever  organ- 
ized nature  is — if  it  be  such  to  which  created  mind 
is  inadequate  — then  does  the  action  of  God  inces- 
santly address  our  senses.  This  evidence  is  the 
same  in  kind  as  that  by  which  we  know  there  is 
mind  in  man.  Were  a skillful  artist  voiceless  as 
the  movements  of  God  in  nature,  the  progress  of  his 
work  in  the  complicated  machine  he  was  construct- 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


123 


ing  would  leave  no  doubt  of  his  mental  action:  just 
as  little  doubt  of  God’s  action  is  left  by  the  work- 
ings of  the  great  machine  of  nature.  There  his  real 
action  is  seen — not  only  in  the  moving  planets,  the 
emanating  sunbeams,  the  restricted  ocean — not  only 
in  those  giant  movements  working  out  the  profound 
designs  of  nature — but  in  its  minutest  process,  in 
every  grain  of  sand,  in  every  drop  of  the  bucket, 
in  every  leaf  of  the  forest,  in  the  very  microscopic 
atom;  so  there  is  no  one  being  in  nature  with  whose 
movements  we  are  so  conversant  as  with  God’s. 

Finally,  in  the  light  of  this  discussion,  appears 
the  guiding  providence  of  God,  by  which  the  events 
of  his  universe  are  appropriated  to  his  purposes. 

Though  every  act  of  each  created  mind  belongs  to 
that  mind  alone,  the  instant  it  transpires  it  passes 
from  the  control  of  the  actor  to  that  of  the  all- 
comprehending  Mind,  to  be  so  directed  by  this 
Supreme  Agent  as  to  thwart  the  designs  of  the 
guilty  and  execute  those  of  the  pious  actor.  By 
this  action  of  a never-slumbering  agency  the  hopes 
of  virtue  are  kindled.  But  for  this  not  a moral 
excellence  could  have  survived  before  the  fiery  flood 
of  sin  which  for  so  many  ages  has  swept  over  the 
globe.  But,  under  the  management  of  that  mys- 
*teriously-controlling  Power  which  presses  vice  out 
of  its  dark  direction,  righteousness  is  destined  to 
raise  its  beauteous  form,  after  the  depression  of 
ages,  amid  the  greetings  of  a disinthralled  universe. 
That  agency,  noiseless  as  the  wings  of  light,  is  like 


124 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


that  benign  element  every-where  operating  unspent. 
Its  immeasurable  energy  can  be  adequately  symbol- 
ized by  no  wealth  of  language  — by  no  pomp  of 
figures.  An  angelic  agency  might  be  supposed  so 
numerous  as  to  furnish  one  in  charge  of  each  atom 
of  matter;  one  for  each  emotion  of  all  hearts;  one 
for  every  thought  of  all  intellects;  one  for  every 
word  uttered  by  all  lips;  one  for  each  stage  of 
progress  throughout  the  dominions  of  nature.  What 
would  be  the  energy  of  this  brilliant  array  of  flam- 
ing millions  compared  to  that  which  works  unseen 
through  all  the  powers  and  properties  of  the  uni- 
verse ? 

All  systems  of  ethics  and  philosophy  which  inter- 
pose the  smallest  space  or  duration  between  God 
and  his  works,  when  sifted  to  the  bottom,  will  be 
found  spurious. 

All  true  philosophy  runs  up  into  God,  so  as  to 
find  every  event  in  the  grasp  of  his  hand.  Every 
atom  of  the  universe  is  more  immediately  controlled 
by  him  than  is  the  body  of  man  by  his  mind  that 
moves  it.  To  the  same  extent  a hypothesis  dispenses 
with  this  control,  it  approaches  the  midnight  gulf  of 
atheism;  it  impinges  on  the  territory  of  pantheistic 
gloom;  it  gives  to  oblivion  that  awe  and  trust  in- 
spired by  the  felt  presence  of  the  Eteenal  Mind. 
To  those  gross  conceptions  which  confine  the  Infinite 
Agency  to  the  sphere  of  mind,  and  often  to  the  celes- 
tial abodes,  is  referable  that  semi-infidelity  which 
now  chills  the  higher  grades  of  mind. 


DIVINE  PEOVIDENCE. 


125 


When  full  scope  shall  be  given  to  the  moral  in- 
stincts of  our  nature,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
higher  generalization  of  truth  — when  this  sim- 
plicity of  man’s  infancy  in  the  world’s  morning, 
which  made  him  see  the  action,  hear  the  voice, 
and  feel  the  hand  of  God  — when  this  shall  be 
reenthroned  in  our  religious  nature,  the  Church 
will  become  the  light-house  of  the  world.  Its 
piety  will  be  more  intense,  purifying,  thrilling, 
aggressive.  The  Divine  oracles  will  shine  in  their 
primitive  radiancy,  and  exert  a sway  commensurate 
to  their  demand  over  the  convictions  of  the  heart. 

And  noWj  to  this  always  active  Agent j ^Ghe  only 
wise  God,”  who  is  in  all,  and  through  all,  and  over 
all,  HIM  be  glory,  and  dominion,  and  praise, 
forever  and  ever.”  Amen, 


IV. 


TRUTH: 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  LITERARY  SOCI- 
ETIES OF  THE  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE,  CONCORD, 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  NOVEMBER  2,  1852. 


Youno  Gentlemen  of  the  Literary  Socie- 
ties,— The  present  is  an  anniversary  occasion.  It 
forces  on  us  a retrospective  glance.  But  our  work 
of  this  hour  is  not  to  recall  the  past,  how  deep  and 
tender  soever  may  be  its  remembered  scenes.  What 
is  stern  and  stirring  in  the  deep  solitude  of  a scholar 
can  never  be  forgotten.  What  is  bright  and  vision- 
like in  the  dreams  of  his  reverie  will  be  a lucid 
point,  which  will  never  fade  from  the  past.  But  the 
occasion  is  devoted  to  a higher  purpose  than  to 
amuse  you  by  a fancy  picture  of  the  past,  or  by 
attempting  to  extort  what  still  slumbers  in  the 
bosom  of  the  future. 

It  is  other  material  than  amusement  of  which  the 
student’s  aliment  consists.  He  demands  truth — 
truth  in  its  deepest,  highest,  broadest  range.  He 
needs  to  be  assured,  by  evidence  like  vision,  that 
the  scope  given  to  his  powers  is  fully  commensurate 
with  the  peerless  grandeur  of  his  destiny,  and  with 


128 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


all  those  solemn  purposes  preparatory  to  that  des- 
tiny. What,  then,  is  our  chosen  mode  of  doing 
this?  It  is: 

1.  To  ENTER  WITH  YOU  THE  FlELD  OF  GENERAL 
Truth. 

II.  To  Designate  the  Qualifications  indis- 
pensable TO  Explore  that  Field.  Andj 

III.  To  indicate  the  Present  Demand  on 
Scholars  to  obtain  these  Qualifications. 

We  first  attempt  to  designate  several  classes  of 
truth.  There  is  in  the  universe  necessary  truth  and 
contingent  truth.  Truth  of  the  former  class  demands 
also  a subdivision  into  such  as  are  conditioned  and 
those  which  are  unconditioned. 

As  a single  instance  to  illustrate  a conditioned 
necessary  idea,  we  advert  to  the  reference  we  una- 
voidably make  of  phenomena  to  their  substance. 
But  created  substance  might  not  have  existed;  and 
in  that  event  there  would  have  been  no  necessary 
reference  of  phenomena  to  it,  as  then  there  could 
have  been  no  phenomena.  Thus,  what  was  made 
unavoidable  by  a voluntary  act,  would  have  been 
impossible  without  that  act.  The  necessity  is  there- 
fore a conditioned^  and  not  an  eternal  one. 

2.  Necessary  ideas  unconditioned  are  such  as 
whose  non-existence  is  impossible,  and  the  concep- 
tion of  whose  non-existence  is  impossible.  Such  a 
truth  is  ever  attended  with  absolute  conviction  of 
its  necessity,  and  with  a felt  impossibility  of  sup- 
posing the  contrary.  So  far  as  this  class  of  truth 


TRUTH. 


129 


comes  within  our  knowledge,  it  is  self-evident. 
What  may  be  the  number  of  necessary  truths  within 
the  field  of  the  universe,  the  contractedness  of  our 
powers  prohibits  our  knowing.  Though  in  this 
whole  field  there  can  be  but  one  necessary  being, 
there  may  be  innumerable  necessary  truths.  We 
know  of  such  a truth  in  every  attribute  of  God; 
but  we  know  neither  the  number  of  his  attributes, 
or  the  number  of  such  truths  contained  in  each 
attribute. 

Both  these  classes  of  necessary  truths — condi- 
tioned and  unconditioned — are  the  logical  anteced- 
ents of  all  contingent  truths,  and  all  phenomena  nec- 
essarily refers  us  to  those  antecedents.  Thus,  effect 
forces  back  to  cause,  quality  to  substance,  succes- 
sion to  duration,  body  to  space.  By  confounding 
these  phenomena  with  their  antecedents,  men  have 
cut  themselves  off  from  all  the  past,  and  sundered 
every  tie  that  binds  them  to  any  other  principle  or 
being  in  the  universe;  and  what  they  have  done  to 
themselves  they  have  done  to  all  others,  making 
every  being  and  thing  an  isolated  individual,  abso- 
lutely alone  amid  the  wild  whirlings  of  chance. 

Contingent  ideas,  or  truth,  is  that  the  conception 
of  whose  non-existence  is  possible.  This  class  of 
truth  pervades  the  entire  territory  over  which  will 
holds  dominion.  The  term  contingent  is  by  no  means 
used  in  opposition  to  certainty,  but  merely  in  oppo- 
sition to  necessity.  Whatever  mere  will  has  pro- 
duced might  not  have  been.  As  freedom  is  the  law 


130 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


of  the  will,  the  action  of  that  faculty  ever  involves 
the  possibility  of  the  opposite.  And  as  will  is  the 
only  causal  agent  in  the  universe,  all  which  has 
been  produced  might  not  have  been.  From  many 
sources  the  evidence  of  this  is  furnished ; we  advert 
to  but  one.  This  is  found  in  the  adaptation  which 
extends  through  the  entire  system  of  things.  Look 
at  the  ten  thousand  ties  connecting  the  organic  and 
unorganized  system  of  beings.  These  are  numerous, 
arbitrary,  and  delicate.  Take  a few  instances : the 
ear  could  not  produce  the  air,  or  the  air  the  ear. 
Both  could  not  produce  the  numerous  and  nice 
adaptations  evinced  by  all  the  varieties  of  sound. 
Nor  could  the  eye  generate  the  light,  or  the  light 
the  eye,  or  either  anticipate  the  mysterious  laws  of 
vision.  The  construction  of  all  animals  involves 
numerous  functions  that  presuppose  the  most  aston- 
ishing correspondence  through  the  vast  dominion 
of  material  nature:  such  as  the  laws  of  the  vege- 
tables on  which  they  subsist — of  the  air  which  is 
vital  to  them;  the  law  of  gravity  regulating  their 
circulation,  which  is  modified  by  every  pound  weight 
of  our  globe,  and  by  every  ounce  of  the  central 
sun,  and  every  rod’s  distance  of  the  one  from  the 
other.  Take  a single  instance  more  from  what  is 
palpable  in  every  man’s  own  constitution.  I allude 
to  the  various  kinds  of  sensibility  with  which  each 
nerve  acting  in  the  senses  is  endowed : thus,  the 
nerve  of  touch  is  insensible  to  the  light.  The  nerve 
of  the  eye  is  sensible  to  nothing  else  but  light.  In- 


TEUTH. 


131 


deed,  tins  arbitrary  arrangement  has  been  made  in 
nervous  sensibility  in  every  sense  we  possess.  Does 
not  this  wide  variety  of  adaptations  overwhelmingly 
demonstrate  the  absence  of  all  necessity,  and  the 
dominion  of  sovereign  willj  and  thus  prove  the  con- 
tingency of  this  entire  class  of  truth? 

Next  to  this  class  of  truth  may  be  adduced  that 
consisting  of  axioms^  or  first  principles.  These  are 
distinguished  by  being  the  basis  of  all  reasoning, 
the  foundation  of  every  possible  science.  All  that 
is  luminous  in  the  mightiest  argument,  all  that 
radiancy  in  which  the  most  splendid  science  glows, 
shine  in  these  first  principles.  Their  light  is  there 
or  nowhere.  Such  principles  lie  at  the  bottom,  not 
of  one  science,  but  of  all  sciences.  In  geometry  we 
recognize  them  in  such  axioms  as  this : Things 

equal  to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  one  another.” 
But  they  substantially  belong  to  all  other  sciences. 
Instance  that  of  logic : Where  two  terms  agree 

with  one  and  the  same  thing,  they  agree  with  one 
another.” 

So  then,  we  say  that  first  principles,  with  various 
modifications,  are  equally  applicable  and  indispens- 
able to  all  sciences.  The  light  of  evidence  showing 
their  truthfulness  is  in  themselves.  The  proof  of  it 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  all  men  admit  them,  act  on 
them,  and  reason  from  them.  That  skepticism  which 
doubts  them  can  prove  nothing,  nor  can  it  disprove 
any  thing  ; as  both  these  depend  entirely  on  that 
very  truthfulness  which  it  denies.  Skepticism, 


132 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


therefore,  is  doomed  to  expire  by  that  very  wound 
by  which  its  victim  falls. 

From  this  view  of  axiomatic  principles  we  pass 
to  glance  at  the  distinction  between  objective  and 
subjective  truth.  That  which  is  subjective  lies  solely 
within  the  precincts  of  the  mind  itself.  That  which 
is  objective  regards  all  that  lies  beyond  those  pre- 
cincts. These,  then,  are  two  palpably-different 
worlds.  We  become  acquainted  with  them  respect- 
ively by  means  totally  dissimilar.  All  the  known 
properties  of  the  one  are  utterly  unlike  those  of  the 
other.  And  yet  the  pseudo-science  of  the  East,* 
and  the  modern  idealism  of  Europe,  engulf  the 
whole  objective  universe  in  the  individual  mind. 
Those  powerful  metaphysicians  which  rank  with 
Kant  and  Fichte  have  thus  dishonored  both  psy- 
chology and  genius.  They  commence  by  apparently 
exalting  the  thinking  element  within  us,  alleging  that 


In  the  relation  of  the  subjective  to  the  objective — of  man  to  the 
universe — lies  that  unsolved  problem  on  which  whole  ages  of  thought 
have  been  unsuccessfully  expended.  About  no  other  great  question 
of  antiquity  have  glowed  more  brilliant  speculations  of  philosophic 
genius.  The  most  indefatigable  explorers  in  that  ethereal  region 
have  found  no  way  open  from  the  personal  to  the  impersonal;  from 
the  individual  to  the  universal.  All  the  systems,  in  every  successive 
school,  by  which  anxious  minds  have  essayed  to  bridge  this  separa- 
ting gulf,  have  found  one  common  limit  beyond  which  they  could 
generate  no  light.  Our  race,  in  its  childhood,  cradled  in  the  sultry 
climes  of  the  East,  speculated  itself  into  a monotheism,  in  which  was 
the  living  germ  of  pantheism.  This  was  a death-blow  to  all  the 
active  powers  of  individual  consciousness ; it  was  such  an  overshad- 
owing sense  of  the  Infinite  as  could  not  but  arise  from  this  utter 
absorption  of  the  individual  in  the  universal.  Indeed,  it  left  no  per- 


TRUTH. 


133  . 


it  dwells  in  its  own  principles  of  life ; that  it  is  an 
energy  of  being  irrespective  of  the  body — an  inde- 
pendent divinity  within  us.  Still  higher  honor  is 
accorded  to  our  spiritual  nature.  It  is  made  capa- 
ble of  thoughts  and  emotions  foreign  to  the  senses 
and  to  externality;  far  superior  to  ^^all  grossness, 
all  the  fluctuations,  and  all  the  dissolutions  of  mate- 
rial things,”  so  that  in  a sublime  existence  it  pur- 
sues its  felicitous  inquiries  in  a sphere  exclusively 
its  own. 

Another  advance  is  likewise  made  in  this  dazzling 
career  by  asserting  innate  thoughts';  thoughts  ante- 
rior to  thinking,  knowledge  independent  of  study- 
ing. From  this  dizzy  hight,  the  system,  waxing 
bold,  takes  another  daring  leap,  and  reaches  the  fatal 
conclusion  that  man’s  spiritual  nature  is  self-living, 
self-advancing;  that  itself  is  all  that  really  exists; 
that  the  external  world  is  the  mind's  own  forms, 


manent  relations  to  be  traced  between  the  one  and  the  many.  It  made 
unity  and  plurality — not  two  classes,  but  an  insoluble  whole.  There 
was  in  the  universe  no  such  relation  as  cause  and  effect,  but  only  that 
of  substance  and  atjtributes.  Thus  the  iron  hand  of  necessity  was  alike 
on  the  one  and  the  many  ; on  the  substance  and  the  attributes  ; on 
God  and  on  all  that  had  flowed  from  him.  Under  the  mysterious 
sway  of  that  unknown  power  were  all  the  visible  and  unseen  move- 
ments in  the  universe.  This  fatalistic  spell  generated  a deathlike 
indifference,  which  for  thousands  of  years  has  left  unbroken  the  slum- 
bers of  Oriental  mind.  Neological  Germany,  abandoning  her  revealed 
guide,  has  strayed  into  the  same  misty  regions.  Other  elements, 
peculiar  to  Western  mind,  will  preclude  that  immobility  of  life,  that 
abandonment  of  self,  which  are  the  legitimate  offspring  of  panthe- 
ism; but  they  can  never  shut  out  that  delirious  atheism  which  madly 
breaks  away  from  all  the  first  principles  of  thought. 


134 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


transferred  by  fancy,  so  as  to  appear  an  outward 
scene.  Objects  without  exist  merely  as  mental  affec- 
tions; reality  is  solely  in  the  mind  itself.  This 
dark  idealism  annihilates  the  vital  center  of  the 
universe,  and  turns  to  a fancy-dream  our  high  com- 
munion with  our  living  Parent. 

Opposite  to  this  bewitching  idealism  is  the  cheer- 
less theory  of  materialism.  The  sum  of  this  is  that 
the  mind  is  simply  a refined  faculty  of  the  hody» 
Those  reckless  dogmatizers  who  reasoned  themselves 
into  this  degrading  faith,  took  their  position  on  the 
conclusion  of  Locke,  that  sensation  and  reflection 
were  the  only  sources  of  our  knowledge,  and,  by  a 
single  bound,  made  a monstrous  leap  to  the  conclu- 
sion, ^Hhat  sensation  comprehends  man's  whole  be- 
ing." This  makes  man,  with  all  his  melting  sympa- 
thy and  towering  intellect,  a creation  of  the  outward 
world.  Something  infinitely  below  the  Almighty's 
breath  will  fan  up  the  living  fires  in  the  organized 
lump  of  breathless  matter.  This  gross  sensualism 
perceives  only  matter  through  the  entire  range  of 
being,  and  leaves  not  immortality  unextinguished  on 
the  throne  of  the  universe. 

These  appalling  results  of  engulfing  the  subjective 
in  the  objective,  or  the  objective  in  the  subjective, 
utter  the  most  solemn  warning  to  philosophizing 
mind  against  this  guilty  departure  from  first  prin- 
ciples. 

The  only  remaining  class  of  truth  which  we  'shall 
delay  here  to  distinguish,  is  that  which  is  moral. 


TKUTH. 


135 


The  name  distinguishes  the  qualities  of  right  and 
wrong  in  the  conduct  of  agents.  As  the  distinction 
between  these  never  originated  in  will^  it  never  be- 
gan to  be,  and  can  never  cease  to  be,  and  can  never 
be  other  than  it  is.  Were  it  created,  it  was  once 
out  of  the  universe,  and  then  the  infinite  Deity  had 
no  moral  character,  and  must  still  be  without  one, 
as  what  he  creates  can  never  belong  to  his  nature. 
What  was  made  is  distinguished  by  being  that 
which  is;  that  which  always  was,  by  being  that 
which  must  be.  What  is  moral,  then,  is  in  the 
highest  class  of  necessary  truth.  Now,  as  the 
moral  principle  imposes  obligations  exactly  com- 
mensurate to  the  relations  of  the  parties,  the  dim- 
ness of  that  light  in  which  duty  often  appears  is 
owing  to  the  partial  concealment  of  relations.  And 
thus  scope  is  given  to  faith,  that  grand  instrument 
of  human  recovery. 

We  next  advert  briefly  to  some  of  the  general 
principles  which  should  direct  our  researches.  These 
are  indicated  by  the  mode  God  has  adopted  to  make 
himself  known  to  us,  and  by  the  laws  of  our  own 
mental  structure.  The  assumption  is  a great  truth, 
that  all  which  God  has  done  and  said  has  for  its 
permanent  object  his  self-manifestation.  This  being 
so,  he  would  do  his  works,  and  utter  his  Word,  pre- 
cisely in  that  manner  in  which  we  could  best  un- 
derstand him  in  them.  Thus,  his  first  work  would 
be  a display  of  power,  that  being  more  simple  and 

easy  of  apprehension  than  his  other  perfections. 

12 


136 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


He  would  next  exhibit  skill  or  wisdom,  as,  in  sim- 
plicity, that  stands  next  to  power.  At  a higher 
stage  he  would  manifest  goodness,  that  being,  in  its 
nature,  still  more  complex.  Why  would  God  adopt 
this  order?  Because  this  is  the  law  by  which  cre- 
ated mind  acquaints  itself  with  him — the  law  by 
which  it  must  investigate  all  truth.  Confirmatory 
of  this  principle  we  shall  find  the  answer  to  the 
question  of  fact.  Has  he  adopted  this  method?  The 
affirmative  answer  is  indubitably  given  by  geology. 
The  creation  arose  first  as  an  example  of  his  un- 
matched might.  Then  was  displayed  his  wisdom  in 
the  collocations  of  all  organized  nature.  Afterward 
the  streams  of  his  goodness  flowed  out  in  the  be- 
nignant ends  of  his  contrivances.  This  very  order 
of  self-manifestation  is  equally  marked  in  Provi- 
dence. The  earlier  revelations  of  God  to  the  race 
most  prominently  illustrated  his  almightiness.  Proof 
of  this  is  found  in  the  very  character  of  the  miracles 
of  the  Old  Testament.  But,  in  ihh  stupendous  won- 
ders of  the  New  Testament,  beamed  out  the  splen- 
dors of  goodness.  Scarcely  a miracle  of  Christ  which 
was  not  eloquently  expressive  of  this  perfection.  The 
most  stern  of  these  were  more  radiant  with  love  than 
awful  with  power.  This,  then,  is  the  order  in  which 
God  has  revealed  himself,  both  in  his  works  and 
Word.  And  the  fact  that  he  has  chosen  this  order 
is  an  index  to  the  mode  in  which  our  mind  best  in- 
vestigates truth.  The  Creator's  works  and  Word 
have  their  elemental  alphabet,  no  less  than  the  Ian- 


TRUTH. 


137 


guage  of  man.  With  these  elemental  truths  every 
successful  student  must  commence  his  upward  ca- 
reer. He  can  not  attempt  to  ascend  per  solium 
without  disaster.  He  must  do  it  by  a series  of  suc- 
cessive advances.  He  must  go  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex  — from  the  minute  to  the  vast  — from 
unity  to  plurality — from  the  temporal  to  the  eternal. 

Nor  is  this  lesson  less  forcibly  inculcated  by  our 
own  mental  structure.  This  structure  clearly  indi- 
cates the  appointed  mode  of  our  acquiring  knowl- 
edge. Self-introspection  supersedes  any  other  evi- 
dence that  the  changeless  laws  of  nature  render  us, 
in  all  departments  of  research,  philosophic  beings. 
Such  is  our  nature,  that,  by  supposing  every  truth 
demonstrable,  we  destroy  the  possibility  of  demon- 
strating any  truth.  We  must  be  constituted  to  con- 
ceive the  truth  of  some  propositions  without  proof, 
or  be  compelled  to  leave  all  propositions  without 
proof.  Hence,  man's  constitution  is  stored  with 
ultimate  truths — truths  which  admit  of  no  self- 
explanation, but  which  repose  on  truths  beyond 
themselves.  Mind  can  not  act  consecutively  with- 
out them.  It  finds  itself  presupposing  them  in 
every  inquiry;  and  attention  to  itself  makes  them, 
like  new  creations,  spring  into  light.-  Not  so  with 
the  principles  of  generalization,  which  are  volun- 
tarily elaborated.  As  'Hhe  objects  of  nature  never 
present  themselves  drawn  up  in  rank  and  file,  but 
await  man's  classification,"  so  does  the  mind  itself 
evolve  the  laws  on  which  all  classifications  are  to 


138 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


proceed.  But,  though  these  laws  do  not,  like  ulti- 
mate truths,  make  a part  of  our  constitution,  it  is 
entirely  within  our  capacity  to  evolve  them.  Now, 
it  is  demanded,  how  else  can  the  mind  extend  its 
dominion  but  by  classifying  ? And  how  can  it  clas- 
sify but  by  arranging  particulars  under  general  piin- 
ciples?  And  how  can  it  so  group  particulars  with- 
out previously  considering  them?  Thus,  no  vision 
can  be  plainer  than  that  the  mind  is  so  constituted 
as  to  begin  with  the  simple  and  advance  to  the 
complex.  It  can  not  be  otherwise  than  that  all 
created  mind  masters  truth  by  a series  of  successive 
degrees.  Could  it  grasp  at  once  all  truth,  it  would 
be  infinite.  Could  it  begin  with  the  maximum  of 
its  knowledge,  its  condition  would  be  eternally  sta- 
tionary, and  it  is  not  in  mind  to  endure  so  frightful 
a monotony  through  unwasting  ages.  This  would 
make  the  depths  of  undying  being  the  regions  of 
inefiable  solitude.  No;  it  can  not  be!  The  voice  of 
our  developing  powers,  like  the  trumpet  of  eternity, 
will  ever  call,  Onward!  onward!” 

The  mental  structure,  then,  leads  us  from  the 
single  to  the  complex — from  the  individual  to  the 
class — from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete.  By  these 
views  are  suggested  the  haemony  of  teuth.  Such 
is  the  nature  of  all  truth  that  of  necessity  it  is  a 
unit.  Evidence  of  this  flashes  on  us,  whether  we 
consider  truth  in  its  infinite  source,  in  the  mutual 
relations  of  its  parts,  or  in  its  legitimate  workings 
on  created  mind.  The  principle  of  mutual  rela- 


TRUTH. 


139 


tion  which,  at  some  points,  binds  together  the  vast 
variety  of  all  truths,  is  fundamental  to  the  unity 
of  universal  truth.  Science  is  the  relation  of  ideas 
to  facts.  Philosophy  is  the  science  of  the  connect- 
ing principles  of  nature.  Without  the  unity  of 
truth  these  connections  would  be  abruptly  termin- 
ated. Impassable  chasms  would  divide  them,  and 
no  mind  could  bridge  those  devouring  gulfs.  But 
finding  all  things  within  our  compass  indissolubly 
banded  together,  we  look  up  the  scale  of  creation, 
and  are  struck  with  this  special  order,  namely,  that 
each  higher  being  is  subserved  by  all  beings  below 
it  in  exactly  that  proportion  in  which  it  is  more 
nearly  related  to  the  great  end  of  the  Author  of  all. 
Now,  as  every  exhibition  of  truth  in  the  universe 
has  the  self-manifestation  of  Jehovah  for  its  aim, 
this  connection  of  all  its  parts  presupposes  its  unity 
in  its  source,  and  the  identity  of  its  nature.  In- 
deed, the  unity  of  all  truth,  when  traced  to  its 
great  fountain,  will  be  found  in  the  infinite  perfec- 
tions. For  if  all  beings  sprang  from  God  like  light 
from  its  dispenser,  how  can  any  of  their  relations 
be  out  of  harmony  with  him?  How  can  any  of 
them  clash  with  each  other?  How  can  they  avoid 
uniting  in  their  common  principle,  which  must  be 
seated  in  his  perfections  ? Must  not  the  fearful 
strife  of  eternal  opposites  take  place  in  those  per- 
fections before  the  truths  based  on  them  can  ever 
clash?  The  unity  of  those  perfections  must  trans- 
mit itself  to  all  that  emanates  from  them.  That 


140 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


rainbow  variety  which  beautifies  all  classes  of  truth 
can  no  more  originate  conflict  between  them  than 
can  the  variety  of  persons  in  the  Godhead  kindle 
in  the  infinite  perfections  eternal  war. 

All  developed  truth  is  contained  in  existing  rela- 
tions. One  class  of  these  relations  lies  between 
man  and  his  Maker ; another,  between  man  and 
his  fellows;  a third,  between  man  and  the  material 
creation;  a fourth,  between  the  different  portions 
of  that  creation.  The  first  class  of  these  relations 
pervades  the  entire  field  of  systematic  theology; 
the  scope  of  the  second  is  the  profound  science  of 
morals;  the  last  two  extend  over  the  vast  province 
of  physics. 

It  falls  not  within  our  design  to  graduate  these 
on  the  scale  of  importance;  they  must  be  dismissed 
by  a single  word  on  each. 

The  truths  involved  in  the  first  are  a stream  of 
morning  light,  kindling  into  a glow  man's  far-off 
future,  exhibiting  the  sanctions  of  eternal  law  as 
commensurate  with  the  deathless  nature  and  ever- 
expanding  powers  of  the  subjects  of  the  law. 

Moral  science  evolves  and  classifies  those  immu- 
table principles  which  rest  on  the  perfections  of 
God,  and  comprehend  all  the  rights  of  man,  so  that 
their  voice  is  the  world's  harmony.  Physics,  sweep- 
ing over  the  unmeasured  domains  of  matter,  takes 
in  all  our  relations  to  organized  and  unorganized 
nature,  and  all  those  connections  which  link  together 
every  particle  of  all  worlds.  Truth,  in  all  these  de- 


TRUTH. 


141 


partments,  occupies  a place  in  the  universal  system 
of  truth.  Each  relates  to  God,  each  to  man,  and 
all  to  both. 

II.  We  hasten  to  advert  briefly  to  some  of  the 
QUALIFICATIONS  indispensable  to  the  successful  in- 
vestigation of  truth.  At  the  very  head  of  this  list 
we  place  the  love  of  truth.  Between  unperverted 
mind  and  all  truth  within  its  range  there  is  an 
original  and  an  eternal  congeniality;  and  even  in 
perverted  mind  there  is  a consciousness  of  the  want 
of  something  which  men  hope  for  only  in  truth. 
This  is  so  even  when  their  profoundest  currents 
of  thought  run  in  the  low  grounds  of  sense  and 
passion.  Such  is  mind,  that  through  all  its  depths 
it  will  make  known  to  itself  this  want  as  the  most 
pressing  it  ever  feels.  Nor  is  it  in  the  power  of 
volition  to  calm  this  rage  till  the  mind  invests 
itself  with  that  patience,  calmness,  singleness,  and 
force  requisite  to  investigate  truth.  When  this  is 
done,  truth  is  sought  as  a legacy  divinely  bequeathed 
to  the  humblest  mind.  It  is  deemed  the  fairest  off- 
spring of  the  Parent  Supreme.  Communion  with  it 
is  sought  as  with  an  early  companion,  endeared  by 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  departed  years.  Then  is 
the  truth  felt  with  force,  which  was  uttered  by  its 
noble  Grecian  martyr,  ^^That  the  gods  have  given 
nothing  valuable  to  man  without  labor;”  that  no 
telegraphic  or  railroad  mode  of  movement  has  ever 
been  opened  to  any  branch  of  knowledge;  that  much 


142 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


less  will  the  laws  of  mind  admit  that  the  soul  should 
be  whirled  with  winged  speed  to  the  attainment  of 
all  truth. 

Let  the  original  discoverer  be  well  heeded.  Where 
did  one  ever  arise  whose  master  passion  was  not  the 
love  of  truth  ? Every  mind  of  this  small  class,  which 
has  in  all  time  glowed  in  the  firmament  of  science, 
has  resigned  itself  to  the  sway  of  this  all-controlling 
principle.  It  has  been  bound  to  the  interests  of 
truth  by  the  bands  of  an  iron  purpose.  Decision 
has  flashed  on  all  its  counsels,  and  indomitable  per- 
severance has  been  the  central  object  amid  all  the 
virtues  of  its  character.  During  its  intensest  gaze 
on  all  ethereal  things,  truth  alone  has  peopled  the 
field  of  its  vision.  The  voice  of  truth  only  came 
on  its  ear  with  enchanting  sweetness.  The  mys- 
terious workings  of  this  principle,  when  deeply 
seated  within,  have  awakened  the  admiration  of 
more  than  a single  age  — have  made  men  heroes, 
martyrs,  every  thing  to  which  supreme  energy 
could  raise  them. 

This  eagerness  to  know  the  truth  has  its  fittest 
emblem  in  the  gnawings  of  hunger  — in  unquench- 
able thirst.  It  foregoes  many  a delight  of  social 
hours  — many  a draught  from  the  cup  of  domestic 
pleasure.  It  looks  keenly  into  the  deep  and  dis- 
tant through  the  dim  light  of  the  midnight  lamp. 
This  propelling  love  of  truth  is  ineffably  dissimilar 
to  the  cravings  of  ambition.  He  seeks  knowledge, 
not  because  the  attainment  will  yield  him  influence, 


TRUTH. 


143 


or  bring  him  wealth,  or  procure  him  fame — not  be- 
cause it  will  give  him  a position  in  society  while 
he  lives,  or  a monument  among  the  departed  great 
when  he  dies — but  because  he  loves  it  in  its  essential 
elements — because  it  is  congenial  with  the  deepest 
powers  of  his  being  — because  it  sheds  a guiding 
light  on  his  footsteps  in  his  upward  way  to  its 
own  everlasting  fountain.  Truth  disdains  all  com- 
munion with  a mercenary  spirit;  never  will  its 
depths  disclose  their  unborn  beauty  to  him  who 
explores  them  from  the  feeble  motive  of  mere 
utility. 

The  genuine  thinker  can  never  conceive  how 
men  can  wish  to  know  truth  by  proxy.  The  very 
thought  of  being  released  from  personal  investiga- 
tion comes  on  his  powers  with  the  coldness  of  death. 
No  sooner  could  he  consent  to  exchange  evidence  for 
authority,  than  he  could  feel  himself  released  from 
obligations  to  the  God  that  made  him. 

No  matter  how  gorgeous  the  scientific  drapery 
which  might  clothe  the  human  oracle,  he  would 
turn  his  ear  with  pity  and  indignity  from  all  its 
responses.  This  he  would  do,  not  because  history 
warns  him  of  the  degradation  which  would  other- 
wise ensue — not  because  the  bloody  records  of  the 
Waldenses,  the  Lollards,  and  the  Huguenots  read 
him  a lesson  at  which  all  ages  will  tremble — but 
because  truth  is  dear  to  his  heart  — because  it 
exalts  his  imperishable  nature  — because  it  binds 

him  to  his  Maker's  throne. 

18 


144  LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

2.  In  further  indicating  these  qualifications j we 
remark  that  intellectual  wealth  should  be  acquired. 
A well-stored  mind  has  special  facilities  to  enlarge 
its  empire.  The  question  for  solution,  then,  is.  How 
shall  this  affluence  of  thought  be  reached?  Not 
certainly  by  filling  the  mental  chambers  with 
isolated  facts.  These  may  encumber  the  mental 
researches,  but  can  never  greatly  extend  them. 
For  this  enlarging  purpose  single  truths  and  facts 
must  be  arranged' into  systems. 

Take  an  illustrating  example  from  history.  He 
who  would  treasure  up  its  wealth  must  never  re- 
gard it  as  a mere  circling  of  unprogressive  changes, 
nor  yet  as  a vast  progress  of  crystallization  by  ex- 
ternal accretion.  Such  a progress  is  without  vital 
organization,  without  rational  significancy,  without 
a moral  end.  Such  u progress  is  restricted  to  un- 
organized nature,  and  never  belonged  to  the  stream 
of  social  events.  He  must  regard  each  event  as  a 
part  of  the  entire  train.  He  must  fix  a piercing 
eye  on  that  combining  principle  which,  like  a silver 
thread,  runs  through  the  manifold  phenomena  of 
social  man.  We  know  there  is  a connecting  prin- 
ciple which  preserves  individual  identity  by  binding 
together  one’s  physical  and  mental  changes  from  his 
cradle  to  his  grave.  Such  is  this  social  principle, 
which,  like  a stream  of  light,  runs  through  the 
events  of  a nation’s  existence  and  of  a world’s  his- 
tory. It  is  an  adequate  conception  alone  of  this 
highest  unity  that  can  give  intense  light  and 


TRUTH. 


145 


thrilling  power  to  the  records  of  our  race.  Exclude 
this  law  of  combining  events,  and  we  are  cut  off 
from  the  past,  and  the  lesson  inculcated  by  all  that 
God  and  man  have  done  is  blotted  out  forever.  But 
let  events  be  arranged  under  this  principle,  and  we 
shall  commune  with  a spirit  which  will  trace  it  not 
through  one  period,  but  through  all  periods.  The 
student,  resigning  his  powers  to  such  a guide,  will 
find  them  not  circling  around  on  a dead  level,  but 
in  an  ascending  spiral  movement — in  an  ever-rising 
position.  But  these  indications  of  the  mode  of  ac- 
quiring historical  knowledge  have  points  of  applica- 
bility to  all  other  branches  of  knowledge.  Though 
our  limits  preclude  the  attempt  to  show  how  mental 
wealth  is  promoted  by  applying  the  principle  of 
classification  to  every  branch  of  knowledge,  the 
single  illustration  we  have  furnished  will  readily 
suggest  the  mode.  Never,  in  any  other  mode, 
through  the  whole  history  of  - the  individual,  can 
sufficient  knowledge  be  acquired  for  the  purpose  of 
an  enlarged  investigation  of  truth.  But  by  this 
kind  of  research  thought  acquires  an  extent  of 
empire,  during  this  brief  life,  which,  by  being 
conversant  with  separate  facts,  it  might  fail  to  do 
in  a hundred  ages. 

Our  next  remark  turns  on  the  requisite  mental 
DISCIPLINE.  So  palpable  is  the  demand  for  this, 
that  additional  evidence  is  superseded.  No  artist 
ever  deemed  himself  skillful  till  he  could  command 
the  ready  use  of  his  tools.  The  inquirer  after  truth 


146 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


must  add  to  his  earnestness  this  skill.  The  power 
of  patient,  fixed,  and  protracted  attention  must 
be  his.  In  all  elementary  pursuits  the  discipline 
rather  than  the  wealth  of  the  mind  should  be 
sought;  and  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  right 
mode  of  seeking  the  latter  is  the  most  successful 
method  of  aspiring  at  the  former.  The  same  kind 
of  exercise  which  best  replenishes  the  mind  with 
thought,  most  improves  the  thinking  powers.  This 
mental  vigor  arises,  not  from  the  amount  of  knowl- 
edge acquired,  but  from  the  strenuous  eflbrts  and 
vigorous  discipline  of  the  powers  in  making  the  ac- 
quirement. The  highest  use  of  these  can  be  attained 
only  by  this  habitual  use  of  them.  Deep,  undi- 
verted, and  protracted  attention  is  a sine  qua  non 
to  a highly-disciplined  mental  state.  A languid, 
intermitted  attention  is  unavoidably  fatal  to  all 
mental  elevation.  It  must,  in  no  degree,  be  toler- 
ated, but  banished  at  once  and  forever,  on  the  peril 
of  its  becoming  a ruinous  habit.  It  was  to  this  all- 
controlling power  of  attention  that  Newton  ascribed 
his  highest  attainments  in  science.  Without  this 
the  mental  tone  is  fearfully  injured,  and  the  inward 
vigor  irreparably  impaired.  With  it  conception  be- 
comes vivid,  suggestion  fruitful,  and  combination  of 
an  ever-growing  compass.  It  is  amazing  to  observe 
how  mind  thus  trained  will  pierce  the  arcana  of 
truth — how  it  will  seize  on  the  general  in  the  par- 
ticular ^ and  be  introduced  to  causes  by  investigating 
their  effects.  In  what  other  state  can  the  mind  lay 


TRUTH. 


147 


hold  of  the  essential  in  the  accidental,  so  as  to  find 
the  inward  symbolized  by  the  outward?  In  many 
a walk  of  thought  the  essence  of  things  remains  too 
subtile  to  be  pierced  by  probationary  mind;  but 
such  thinkers  the  phenomena  point  to  that  in  the 
substance  which  startles  and  thrills  them.  They  see 
behind  all  action  a vital  principle — under  all  phe- 
nomena a viewless  substance.  How  this  disciplined 
state  relates  its  subjects  to  the  men  of  their  genera- 
tion can  be  inconceivable  by  none.  It  makes  them 
the  prophets  of  their  nation — the  interpreters  of  the 
voices  of  the  experience  of  all  the  historical  past. 
All  departed  events  are  laid  under  contribution  to 
their  useful  agency.  They  think,  not  with  the  mul- 
titude, but  for  the  multitude.  Such  patient,  assidu- 
ous explorers  in  the  field  of  truth  have  not  in  vain 
delved  hard  for  the  costliest  gems.  Long  since  have 
they  renounced  that  fatal  delusion  that  the  ease  of 
acquisition  is  the  test  of  its  value,  and  that  the 
darkness  of  a moral  problem  is  a sufiicient  reason  to 
refrain  from  investigating  its  principles.  Much 
more  will  they  never  be  guilty  of  such  treason 
against  the  laws  of  intellect  as  to  sneer  at  such 
problems.  Their  darkness  will  not  be  referred  to 
their  confusion,  but  to  the  want  of  scope  and  depth 
in  the  inquirer  s powers.  This  requisite  discipline 
inculcates,  as  by  the  tongue  of  a trumpet,  that  pro- 
found science  and  revealed  religion  can  never  be 
divested  of  their  inherent  grandeur — that  their  im- 
perative demand  is  to  be  left  covered  with  what  was 


148 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


always  venerable  and  awful  in  their  depths.  If 
never-tiring  efforts,  made  by  undivided  powers,  fail 
to  scrutinize  the  laws  of  causes^  what  marvel  that 
fitful  intellects  should  stumble  at  those  everlasting 
principles  ? 

This  disciplined  state  of  intellect  is  likewise  essen- 
tial to  grapple  with  abstruse  principles,  as  it,  only, 
qualifies  the  mind  to  greet  light  from  whatever 
fount  it  may  emanate,  and  to  convey  on  a given 
point  every  straying  beam.  It  tolerates  the  idio- 
syncrasies of  each  laborer  in  the  common  field  of 
investigation.  It  will  accord  to  others  the  same 
noble  independence  which  it  claims  for  itself. 

Minds  under  an  opposite  control  graduate  their 
respect  for  truth  by  the  age,  or  land,  or  nation,  or 
other  circumstances  of  its  origin.  It  is  important  as 
it  came  from  Greece  or  Kome — from  the  time  of 
Demosthenes,  or  Cicero,  or  Augustine,  or  Luther; 
as  it  was  of  either  of  the  four  schools  of  Greece — 
from  that  of  Alexandria — from  Oriental  or  Occidental 
mind — ancient  or  modern — from  the  Old  or  New 
World.  But  adequate  discipline  allows  no  truth  to 
take  its  hues  from  any  of  these  mere,  circumstances. 
It  is  admitted  to  confidence,  not  according  to  -the 
channel  through  which  it  may  have  flowed,  but  in 
proportion  to  the  evidence  by  which  it  is  sustained. 
What  possible  difference  can  exist  in  the  worth  of 
truth,  whether  it  was  evolved  from  the  depths  of 
Eastern  or  Western  mind? — whether  it  had  birth 
in  the  Augustan  age,  or  in  the  tenth  century,  which 


TEUTH. 


149 


was  the  midnight  hour  of  Christian  history? — or  at 
the  zenith  of  the  nineteenth  century,  this  focal  point 
of  all  converging  lights  of  the  past? 

The  discipline  we  have  indicated  bears  favorably 
on  the  acquiring  of  truth  at  another  point : it  pre- 
vents the  slightest  suspicion  that  one  truth,  or  sci- 
ence, can  ever  be  in  conflict  with  another.  Much 
more  does  it  vanquish  the  thought  that  any  scien- 
tific truth  can  be  out  of  harmony  with  any  fact  or 
principle  of  which  Kevelation  is  the  record.  Mind, 
in  this  state  conversant  with  abstract  principle, 
dwells  much  on  the  true,  the  beautiful,  the  essen- 
tial, the  eternal.  It  finds  such  principle  underlying 
all  progressive  thought,  and,  carrying  them  cour- 
ageously out  to  all  their  legitimate  results,  it  finds 
points  of  union  between  all  the  segments  of  the  great 
circle  of  universal  truth. 

We  remark  again,  on  this  branch  of  our  theme, 
that  an  acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  mind  is  in- 
dispensable to  the  investigation  of  all  other  laws. 
It  is  apparent,  even  without  argument,  that  the 
whole  objective  universe  could  furnish  not  a shadow 
of  interest  were  it  disconnected  with  the  suhjectivej 
the  mind.  The  science  of  mind  is  the  science  of 
one's  inward  self.  Here  the  material  on  which  he 
operates,  the  instrument  by  which  he  works,  and 
the  agent  operating,  are  not  various,  but  the  same. 

It  is  that  by  which  all  thinking,  all  feeling,  all 
doing  are  accomplished.  The  science,  then,  of  this 
comparing,  investigating,  and  determining  substance, 


150 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


is  the  center  of  all  sciences — the  key  of  all  access- 
ible secrets.  The  limits  of  our  mental  powers  are, 
therefore,  the  only  limits  within  which  all  sciences 
are  comprehended,  and  beyond  which  no  human 
science  can  have  being. 

The  goal  of  science  is  not,  however,  the  limit  of 
truth.  We  know  not  that  the  ocean  of  truth  has 
limits,  whose  waves  of  light  lave  the  foot  of  the  ever- 
lasting throne.  If  it  have,  they  can  be  ascertained 
only  by  powers  of  vastly-broader  compass  than  ours, 
and  in  a period  of  immeasurably-larger  extent. 

One  striking  relation  which  an  acquaintance  with 
the  laws  of  mind  bears  to  our  investigation  of  truth, 
is  found  in  the  protection  it  affords  against  both 
timidity  and  rashness;  against  despair  of  achieving 
that  to  which  we  are  fully  adequate;  and  against 
the  waste  of  our  powers  by  attempting  what  is  im- 
possible. And  to  utter  in  one  word  all  we  mean, 
we  allege  that  without  some  science  of  mind  there 
is  not,  in  the  whole  universe,  any  science  for  man. 

III.  We  now  hasten  to  remark,  finally,  that  such 
qualifications  arc  demanded  by  our  times.  This 
appears  by  the  severity  of  the  test  by  which  the  evi- 
dences of  religion  are  now  tried.  This  applies  to 
external  proofs,  which  are  found  both  in  the  mira- 
cles of  prescience  and  of  power — in  the  supernatural 
deeds  and  prophetic  declarations  of  God.  Pagan 
and  Papal  miracles  have  been  adduced,  in  the  most 
imposing  array,  to  rival  these  from  heaven.  The 


TRUTH. 


151 


deepest  antiquity  must  be  explored  to  let  in  a scath- 
ing light  on  these  tissues  of  imposture,  and  to  reveal 
Jehovah’s  hand  in  the  authenticating  miracles  of 
Eevelation,  and  his  mind  in  those  prophecies  which 
sweep  over  the  great  events  of  human  history.  It 
applies  to  collateral  evidences,  which  may  be  made 
to  gather  strength  from  every  new  element  detected 
in  the  great  events  of  history,  and  from  every  late 
development  in  the  revealings  of  science,  and  from 
the  coins,  medals,  and  marbles  of  antiquity;  to  in- 
ternal evidenceSj  whose  strength  is  found  in  that 
exquisite  adaptation  of  all  the  Divine  doctrines  and 
precepts  to  the  wants  and  woes  of  every  generation 
of  the  race. 

Who  sees  not  the  extent  of  intelligence  requisite 
to  settle  even  the  preliminary  question.  Does  the 
human  stole  demand  a revelation  from  Heaven  ? 
The  answer  lies  in  the  facts  of  man’s  moral  history ; 
and  these  facts  being  found  in  the  secrets  of  his 
nature,  and  in  the  records  of  his  race,  they  must  be 
scrutinized  by  the  most  piercing  glances,  and  clas- 
sified by  the  most  rigid  analysis. 

Can  less  be  affirmed  of  the  genuineness  or  of  the 
authenticity  of  God’s  Oracles,  but  especially  of  those 
far-reaching  questions,  their  credibility  and  inspira- 
tion? For  here  must  be  elaborated  those  profound 
reasonings  which  show  that  the  supernatural  char- 
acter of  the  truth  revealed,  and  of  Him  who  taught 
it,  claimed  a character  equally  supernatural  for  the 
facts  that  authenticate  it. 


152 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


But  what  idea  can  be  given  of  the  vastness  of 
these  topics  by  this  simple  enumeration  of  them? 
Each  topic  numbers  many  subordinate  ones,  and 
every  one  of  these  has  far-reaching  ramifications. 
Who  was  ever  conversant  with  Warburton,  Light- 
foot,  Butler,  Watson,  Lardner,  or  a hundredth  part 
of  similar  authors,  without  absolutely  bowing  to  the 
conviction  that  the  proof  of  religion  has  no  com- 
petitor in  its  claims  on  disciplined  mind — that  it  is 
supreme  in  its  demands  on  intense  thought,  patient 
research,  and  profound  learning? 

Nor  is  the  requisition  from  another  quarter  much 
less  imperious  for  such  qualifications.  I allude  to 
the  learned  attacks  to  which  Eevelation  is  now  es- 
pecially exposed.  Scarcely  has  science  won  a new 
trophy  in  the  enlarging  field  it  occupies  which  pro- 
fane ingenuity  has  not  converted  into  a deadly 
weapon  against  religion.  It  was  thus  with  as- 
tronomy. Men  measured  the  heavens  and  num- 
bered its  stars,  to  marshal  them  against  His  agency 
whose  eternal  breath  kindled  their  fires.  It  was 
so  with  geology.  When  that  science,  so  long  un- 
classified and  so  little  known,  first  broke  the  silence 
of  a thousand  ages,  and  revealed  the  secrets  of  de- 
parted worlds,  it  was  made  to  proclaim  the  eternity 
of  our  globe,  and  erect  a material  throne  which 
should  rival  the  throne  of  Jehovah.  Christian  mind 
must  master  these  sciences,  and  wrest  them  from 
the  usurper’s  grasp.  But  if  this  should  be  done  to 
prevent  the  false  application  of  true  science,  must 


TRUTH. 


153 


less  be  achieved  to  preclude  the  ruinous  application 
of  false  science? 

This,  too,  has  acted  a prominent  part  to  accom- 
plish the  extinction  of  revealed  truth.  As  an  illus- 
trative instance,  we  advert  to  the  ancient  idealism 
of  the  Oriental  world.  This  has  found  acceptance 
in  Western  mind,  and,  being  decked  with  the  brill- 
iant robe  of  German  nomenclature,  it  now  claims 
to  be  a profound  discovery  — one  which  lay  be- 
yond the  compass  of  all  minds,  excepting  the  master 
spirits  of  the  race.  This  strange  philosophy,  which 
makes  all  without  us  merely  the  reflection  of  our 
own  mind  within — which  merges  God  and  his  whole 
universe  into  the  fancy  of  the  percipient — this  phi- 
losophy can  find  an  equal  in  absurdity  only  in  the 
plausible  scheme  of  utter  materialism.  This  can 
perceive  nothing  in  spirit  which  is  not  in  matter; 
nothing  in  mind,  which  measures  the  heavens,  that 
mere  organization  would  not  give  to  the  clod  on 
which  you  tread;  nothing  in  the  Newtons,  and 
Bacons,  and  Lockes  of  our  race,  which  favoring 
circumstances  would  not  impart  to  an  oyster  in 
the  sand.  This  dispensing  with  all  agency  above 
matter  sees  no  demand  for  the  Almighty’s  breath 
to  light  up  the  quenchless  fires  of  the  soul.  A 
mere  lump  of  matter  is  sufficient  for  this,  though 
intrinsically  dead  as  that  which  it  is  to  kindle 
into  life. 

We  advert  to  but  one  more  demand  made  by 
religion  on  cultivated  mzellect,  Eeligion  demands 


154 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


of  that  agency  to  guard  it  against  self- corruption — 
against and  formalism  into  which  it  has 
ever  tended  to  degenerate.  These  two  great  coun- 
terfeits have  their  synabols  in  the  golden  calf  at 
Horeb,  and  in  the  strange  fire  offered  by  the 
usurpers  arrayed  against  Moses  in  the  wilder- 
ness. The  lapse  of  three  thousand  years  has  not 
changed  this  downward  tendency.  Never  since  has 
one  of  these  failed  to  occupy  the  place  vacated  by 
piety. 

The  corelation  of  fanaticism  and  formalism  is  that 
of  parent  and  offspring.  The  over-tasked  sensibili- 
ties, kindled  into  a livid  flame  by  fanaticism,  soon 
sink  down  exhausted  into  the  cold  embrace  of  form- 
alism. One  of  these  grand  corruptions  of  spiritual 
worship  has  embodied  itself  in  Paganism,  and  the 
other  in  the  Papacy,  But  what  Church  of  any  age 
has  been  totally  unblighted  by  these  offsprings  of 
our  alienated  nature?  They  have  clung  to  per- 
verted mind  like  the  attributes  of  its  own  nature. 
Happy  for  the  most  cloudless  realms  of  evangelism 
if  against  these  intruders  they  had  an  abiding  in- 
demnity! But  through  all  time  this  chilling  cold 
or  scorching  flame  has  menaced  our  moral  nature. 

Now,  who  knows  not  that  in  a large  intelli- 
gence these  two  counterfeits  find  not  one  conge- 
nial element;  that  such  intelligence,  giving  health, 
depth,  and  vigor  to  pious  susceptibilities,  secures 
the  affections  against  the  blight  of  this  spurious 
Christianity  ? 


TRUTH. 


155 


Finding  enough  in  the  supreme  motives  of  the 
Gospel  to  meet  the  soul’s  cravings,  both  for  action 
and  repose,  it  supplies  from  that  source  the  suscep- 
tibilities for  the  beautiful,  and  the  sublime,  and  the 
heroic.  It  adopts  that  great  regulator  of  mind — 
the  principle  of  preoccupation  and  substitution.  It 
skillfully  administers  to  the  social  mind  these  pure 
elements  of  revealed  and  enrapturing  truth  which 
preclude  diseased  cravings  for  the  spurious.  It 
allures  to  Scriptural  themes  and  Scriptural  enter- 
prises which  furnish  ample  scope  for  the  most  glov/- 
ing  energies. 

We  allege  this  depth  of  knowledge  to  be  the  de- 
mand of  our  times.  Our  epoch  is  one  of  advancing 
humanity.  The  proof  is  in  the  onward  movement 
of  the  arts;  in  the  rapid  development  of  the  sci- 
ences ; in  the  higher  civilization  of  the  race.  Now 
the  nobler  powers  within  are  elicited  in  the  many^ 
in  the  masses^  not  in  the  solitary  few,  slowly  rising 
at  long  and  gloomy  intervals.  Periods  there  have 
been,  it  is  true,  along  the  track  of  generations 
which  have  appeared  and  vanished,  which  have 
been  kindled  into  a glow  by  gifted  individuals;  but 
where  does  man’s  history  record  this  of  the  majority 
of  a single  nation  on  the  footstool  ? 

Great  schools  have,  through  successive  centuries, 
honored  many  realms.  Something  like  the  Athens 
of  Greece,  the  Pome  of  Italy,  the  Alexandria  of 
Africa,  has  kindled  great  lights  through  distant 
periods.  But  how  can  these-  sparsely-scattered 


156 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


minds  from  those  great  centers  of  kindled  intellect 
be  a test  of  the  advanced  state  of  the  race  ? How 
can  there  be  found  in  them  a criterion  for  determ- 
ining the  stage  attained  by  the  masses  of  men? 
The  depth  of  general  gloom  contributed  to  the 
intensity  and  expansion  of  their  luster,  but  it  was 
never  banished  by  their  agency.  It  is  the  extent 
to  which  the  majority  are  vivified,  by  the  living 
streams  of  knowledge,  which  tests  the  facilities  for 
extending  the  dominion  of  truth.  We  submit  to  all 
' men  whether  any  thing  short  of  this  general  intel- 
ligence can  give  scope  to  the  utmost  energies  of  dis- 
ciplined intellect  ? 

Indeed,  such  a state  alone  can  create  a demand 
for  strong  thinkers.  This  is  the  very  condition  in 
which  men  explore  unwonted  territories  of  thought; 
in  which  there  will  be  new  conception;  new  com- 
binations of  facts;  new  applications  of  principles, 
and  newly-arranged  systems  of  error. 

Now,  who  knows  not  that  our  degeneracy  is  such 
that  perverting  forces  will  corrupt  society  in  pro- 
portion to  its  susceptibility  of  elevation  ? This  will 
ever  be  the  fearful  realization  in  the  absence  of 
strong  counteracting  agency. 

Here,  then,  we  reach  our  overwhelming  conclu- 
sion; namely,  that  it  is  impossible  for  educated 
mind  to  avoid  a responsibility  enhanced  by  the 
quickened  energies  of  our  wondrous  century.  Our 
age  has  collected  the  splendid  fragments  of  thoughts 
which  departed  ages  bequeathed  to  posterity.  To 


TRUTH. 


157 


these  it  has  added  the  richer  materials  of  its  own 
production. 

In  the  midst  of  this  mental  opulence,  how  ter- 
rible will  be  the  shock  of  opposing  forces ! How 
fierce  will  be  the  combat  of  truth  with  error  ! How 
much  higher  ground  will  be  occupied  by  the  latter 
in  wielding  its  unwonted  weapons ! What  fury  will 
be  in  that  death-struggle!  Advocates  of  truth,  of 
humanity,  of  God,  plunge  into  the  unforbidden  se- 
crets of  the  universe;  arm  yourselves  with  the 
power  of  far-reaching  principles;  resolve  deep  truths 
into  others  more  general  and  profound;  combine 
the  perfect  laws  of  moral  government,  and  resolve 
the  high  problems  of  God’s  administration  by  the 
blended  lights  of  both  worlds. 


THE  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  DIPLOMAS. 

Beloved  Pupils, — We  trust  your  reception  of 
these  testimonials  is  no  less  expressive  of  your  noble 
purpose  for  the  future,  than  the  presentation  of  them 
is  of  our  approval  of  the  past.  While  they  testify 
to  the  honorable  manner  in  which  you  have  acted 
your  part  while  with  us,  let  them  be  an  incentive 
to  not  less  noble  achievement  after  you  have  parted 
from  us.  Your  protracted  struggle  in  grappling 
with  the  great  principles  of  truth  which  you  have 
mastered,  we  deem  a pledge  of  still  loftier  efforts 
which  your  future  history  shall  record. 


158 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


A perennial  fountain  of  quickening  influence  will 
be  found  in  the  assurance  that  every  successive 
attainment  is  also  a preparatory  attainment — that 
every  advanced  step  is  a facility  to  one  still  higher, 
and  that  the  nature  of  mind  admits  of  no  limit  to 
your  progress  beyond  which  advance  is  impossible. 
That  imaginary  limit  to  mental  expansion  which 
apathy  and  timidity  have  made  a wall  of  adamant, 
will  demand  only  your  perseverance  to  become 
yielding  as  the  ambient  air.  With  the  grandeur  of 
the  scholar’s  mission  in  your  eye,  you  will  read 
excelsior  on  every  intellectual  hight  along  your 
whole  career.  There,  perseverance  has  written  that 
quickening  word  in  characters  of  living  light. 

But  let  it  never  escape  you,  that  all  the  intellect- 
ual wealth  and  discipline  to  which  you  can  ever 
aspire,  are  to  be  sought,  not  for  their  own  sake,  but 
for  an  object  far  transcending  themselves. 

It  was  not  to  amass  wealth,  to  acquire  fame,  to 
excel  in  the  skill  of  the  advocate,  or  in  the  healing 
art  of  the  physician — at  an  object  far  surpassing 
those  your  culture  aimed.  It  was  to  take  part  in 
the  great  Eedeemer’s  restoring  enterprise.  It  was 
to  vanquish  that  desolating  agency  of  sin  which  is 
blighting  man’s  hopes  for  both  worlds.  It  was  to 
disin thrall  immortal  millions  on  earth,  and  allure 
them  to  mansions  of  light  which  Christ  is  fitting  up 
in  heaven.  With  what  an  unearthly  spirit,  then, 
should  the  functions  of  this  highest  ojffice  intrusted 
to  man  be  discharged ! 


TEUTH. 


159 


It  can  not  but  flash  upon  us  with  revealing  light, 
that  self-sacrifice  should  be  the  spirit — that  it  is 
vital  to  your  ofiice  to  live,  not  for  yourselves,  but 
for  others — not  for  man's  applause,  but  for  their 
souls — not  for  the  emolument  of  earth,  but  for  the 
approval  of  Heaven — not  for  the  gilded  toys  of  time, 
but  for  the  changeless  scenes  of  eternity. 

Go,  then,  beloved  pupils,  as  you  depart  from  the^e 
halls  of  sacred  lore—go  with  a purpose  firm  as  the 
center  of  the  globe,  to  cultivate  whatever  is  gentle- 
manly, noble,  or  Christian,  which  you  may  have  here 
imbibed ! Go  with  a purpose  to  strengthen  what 
remains  weak — to  mature  what  is  still  germinant! 
And  amid  the  wildest  revulsions  of  public  faith,  let 
your  convictions  never  be  shaken  of  the  kindredship 
of  intellectual  and  moral  improvement.  Never  sun- 
der these  which  God  has  joined  together.  Ever 
recognize  the  fraternal  ties  by  which  science,  litera- 
ture, and  religion  are  inseparable.  Never,  then, 
divorce  the  highest  culture  of  the  mind  from  the 
deepest  piety  of  the  heart.  No  more  suppose  that 
the  intellectual  and  moral  powers  can  be  separated 
in  ourselves  than  in  the  Almighty  which  made  us. 

But  we  have  now  reached  a point  where  our  ways 
divide.  The  high  and  endearing  relations  of  pupil 
and  teacher  have  attained  a crisis,  and  must  now 
dissolve.  But  though  that  period,  which  has  been 
one  of  trembling  anxiety,  has  forever  fled,  the 
thrilling  remembrances  which  it  shall  throw  for- 
ward into  the  future  shall  never  perish.  The  so- 


160 


LECTUEKS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


licitude  of  your  teachers,  like  an  attribute  of  your 
nature,  will  abide  with  you. 

They  will  exult  in  the  apostolic  zeal  of  your  min- 
istry— in  the  noble  daring  of  your  Christian  enter- 
prise. And  when  any  of  you  shall  stand  up  alone, 
on  a dark  and  distant  shore,  surrounded  only  by 
those  desolate  objects  which  first  greet  the  mission- 
ary, then  will  your  companions  and  assistants  in 
study  seem  to  cheer  your  solitude  by  those  utter- 
ances to  which  you  have  so  often  listened  in  these 
sacred  halls. 

And  let  us  not  be  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  this 
earthly  farewell,  now  trembling  on  our  lips,  is  little 
more  than  its  own  echo,  which  shall  be  our  speedy 
greeting,  when  our  ministerial  achievements  and 
earthly  pilgrimage  shall  be  accomplished. 

With  these  quickening  anticipations,  we  bid  you 
an  affectionate  and  final  farewell. 


V. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OP  THE 
GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE,  I860. 


Young  Gentlemen, — There  is  a sense  in  which 
the  present  hour  shall  stand  alone  in  the  history  of 
your  being.  To  this  period  every  hour  of  your  in- 
stitution life  has  looked  forward,  through  the  prepa- 
ration which  has  been  the  medium  of  approaching 
it.  To  it  all  the  future  of  your  present  life  will 
look  back  as  to  a fixed  starting  point.  The  present 
hour,  therefore,  in  its  retrospects  and  prospects, 
must  even  be  peculiar.  On  one  side  of  it  lies  that 
silent,  anxious,  toilful  course  in  which  half  a score 
of  branches  were  to  be  mastered;  on  the  other, 
that  various,  stirring,  eventful,  itinerant  field, 
whose  stars  are  to  be  kindled  to  glitter  in  a 
fadeless  crown. 

Here  you  have  studied  books,  and  communed 
through  them  with  the  great  minds  of  departed 
thinkers;  there  you  will  study  men  to  find  the 
avenues  lying  open  to  their  convictions.  Here  you 
have  mastered  the  laws  of  thought;  there  you  will 

learn  all  those  perverting  tendencies  which  so  in- 

161 


162 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


fiuence  thought  as  to  make  life  a failure.  Here 
the  great  redemption  occupied  you  as  a beautiful 
theory,  as  a stupendous  expedient,  as  mounting 
even  above  the  awful  hights  of  justice;  there  you 
will  learn  the  obstacles  to  its  application,  and  the 
only  agency  by  which  they  are  surmountable.  No 
lesson  learned  on  the  most  luminous  page — no  direc- 
tion given  by^  the  wisest  counselor — can  supply  that 
knowledge  acquired  by  actual  contact  and  intimate 
social  intercourse.  Still  may  you  profit  in  this 
practical  field  by  the  wise  suggestions  of  your 
authors  and  teachers.  Instead  of  repeating  or  ex- 
tending them  here,  however,  I hope  you  will  permit 
me  to  close  the  period  which  has  measured  our 
mutual  and  affectionate  relations  by  a brief  dis- 
cussion of  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  age. 

Though  the  occasion  might  be  fitly  improved,  as 
I have  just  observed,  in  imparting  counsel  on  prac- 
tical questions,  it  may  be  more  profitably  appro- 
priated by  discussing  profounder  topics.  The  age, 
you  know,  which  has  just  departed  has  been  one 
of  strong  mental  action.  The  German  mind  espe- 
cially has  been  profoundly  moved,  and  claims  to 
have  ascended  to  the  highest  generalization  that 
can  be  the  boast  of  science;  but  so  morbidly  sub- 
jective has  it  been  as  almost  to  ignore  the  external 
sphere  of  thought.  That  this  mental  habit  has  be- 
come a moral  disease  is  evinced  by  the  mischief  it 
has  wrought  in  the  sphere  of  theology.  Since  Schel- 
ling  startled  all  Europe  by  his  bold  theory,  it  has 


AUTHOEITY  OF  THE  SUPEENATUEAL.  163 

been  entitled  New  Philosophy,''  and,  with  not 
less  fitness,  Natural  Mysticism,"  as  it  places  the 
highest  spiritual  truths  within  the  intuitive  grasp 
of  reason.  Did  not  this  utterly  supersede  God’s 
Revelation,  I should  not  now  invite  you  to  investi- 
gate it.  You  are  doubtless  unaware  of  the  extent 
to  which  it  now  affects  the  Churches,  and  will  ob- 
struct your  own  ministry.  Though  it  sweeps  over 
no  entire  Christian  community,  yet  a majority  of  the 
Churches  have  representative  minds  which  powerfully 
vindicate  it.  Ever  since  the  ethereal  Coleridge  im- 
ported it  to  the  British  isles,  its  virus  has  operated 
on  clerical  speculators.  A large  class  of  the  National 
Establishment,  called  ^Ghe  Broad  Church,”  make 
this  philosophy  its  underlying  principle.  Among 
its  prominent  leaders  are  Arnold,  Hare,  Conybeare, 
Jowett,  and  Powell,  who  should  be  named,  as  their 
productions  are  acting  on  American  mind.  ^^The 
Free  Church  of  Scotland”  is  not  unsmitten  with 
the  same  withering  blight.  The  Churches  of  the 
New  World  are  beginning  to  taste  the  same  fatal 
cup.  Dr.  Hecock  and  his  admirers  are  not  alone 
in  bowing  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  ^Gew 
philosophy.”  It  is  true  that  its  advocates  are  ex- 
ceedingly various  in  the  extent  to  which  they  in- 
dorse it.  While  some  are  but  slightly  tinged  by 
its  dark  hues,  over  others  it  has  gained  a complete 
mastery.  By  these  it  is  grasped  as  a harmonious 
whole;  by  those,  in  only  some  of  its  disrupted  ele- 
ments. A consecutive  mind  can  never  tolerate  this 


164 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


disseverance  of  parts;  as  for  the  same  reason  it  em- 
braces any,  it  embraces  all:  and  for  the  same  reason 
it  rejects  the  whole,  it  rejects  every  part. 

It  is  vital  to  your  clear  conception  of  this  theory 
that  you  become  familiar  with  its  watchwords. 
Among  these  are  the  following;  namely,  spiritual 
faith,  spiritual  sense,  spiritual  insight,  the  practical 
reason,  the  intuitional  capacity,  mental  dynamics, 
and  self-evolution.  These  phrases  are  so  employed 
as  to  make  faith  — the  mind’s  organ  — perceptive 
of  absolute  truths  irrespective  of  the  least  evidence 
out  of  this  organ  itself.  One  fatal  conclusion  is, 
this  intuitive  knowledge  shuts  out  all  other  evi- 
dence from  the  objects  it  apprehends.  It  verbally 
concedes  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  — not  of 
their  words,  but  of  their  ideas  — not  of  the  letter, 
but  of  the  spirit;  so  that  the  ineffable  doctrines  of 
the  Bible  must  be  grasped,  not  through  the  lanes 
of  interpretation,  but  by  direct  intuition.  This 
spirit  eye”  sees  in  the  Pentateuch  and  Gospels 
a splendid  allegory;  in  Christ,  the  archetypal  idea 
which  was  purified  in  Adam ; it  sees  in  Adam  not  a 
man,  but  ^^man.”  This  was  the  generic  sinfulness — 
the  sin  of  each  of  the  species.  This  transmutes  the 
Spirit’s  saving  work  into  an  inward  law,  consisting 
in  the  activities  of  the  reason;  this  makes  Chris- 
tianity not  a doctrine,  but  a life;  it  makes  the 
miracles  of  the  Bible  not  a support,  but  its  incum- 
brance. The  gigantic  work  of  intuitive  reason  is 
to  grasp  universal  truth,  irrespective  of  every  law 


AUTHORITY  OR  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 


165 


of  the  understanding.  Thus  is  confounded  the 
knowledge  of  first  principles  with  that  which  is 
logical,  historical,  and  testimonial.  Hence  that  new 
distinction— of  which  the  apostles  never  dreamed — 
between  the  natural  and  spiritual  mind:  the  former 
being  the  understanding ; the  latter,  the  reason. 
This  reason  is  the  subjective  revelation  shutting  out 
forever  all  objective  revelation,  as  it  intuitively  per- 
ceives more  than  can  be  objectively  revealed. 

What  possible  end  can  miracles  and  prophecy 
subserve,  when  the  very  truth  they  would  prove 
is  self-attested  to  the  inward  sense?  Is  there  any 
evidence  within  the  compass  of  thought  more  re- 
sistless than  intuitive?  Can  it  be  increased  or 
diminished  by  any  kind  or  degree  of  proof?  And 
as  this  faculty  sees  no  evidence  out  of  the  objects  it 
grasps,  all  external  evidence  of  Divine  truth  is,  of 
necessity,  set  aside;  and  all  other  truth  whose  evi- 
dence is  not  in  itself  intuitive  must  be  discredited. 
Hence,  asserts  one  of  its  American  advocates — Dr. 
Hickok — ^‘Without  this  faculty  the  Bible  might  as 
well  be  given  to  our  brutes;’’  and  we  assert  that 
with  it  it  would  be  as  useless  as  any  amusing  alle- 
gory. 

But  is  this  faculty  a reality  or  a sheer  fiction? 
The  solution  is  easy  by  mere  self-introspection. 
Make  the  appeal,  then,  at  once  to  consciousness. 
Does  this  report  the  existence  of  a faculty  in  your 
mind  which  instantly  gr9,sps  spiritual  truth  without 
the  testimony  of  the  Bible?  You  know  it  does  not. 


166 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES* 


The  substitution  of  it  for  the  spirit  of  all  grace  is, 
therefore,  a baseless  assumption. 

Had  it  been  a reality,  would  not  the  universal 
agreement  of  mankind  be  a fact?  Who  knows 
not  that  what  is  intuitively  known  is  seen  in  the 
same  light  by  all  minds?  It  is  not  possible  it 
should  be  otherwise.  The  notorious  diversity  in 
the  faith  of  all  ages  and  nations,  touching  this  very 
class  of  truth,  is  a triumphant  refutation  of  this 
intuition  theory.  Its  unreality  is  strongly  indi- 
cated, also,  by  the  common  conviction  of  men,  that 
the  mind  is  constructed  for  external  evidence.  Is 
not  the  felt  certainty  substantially  the  same  when 
the  evidence  is  testimonial,  inductive,  or  intuitive? 
Do  I feel  less  sure  that  York  exists  than  that 
two  halves  make  a whole,  or  that  the  three  angles 
of  a triangle  are  equal  to  two  right  angles?  Were 
not  the  mind  originally  fitted  for  testimonial  evi- 
dence, eternal  doubt  would  shade  all  the  experiences 
of  the  race  which  lie  beyond  personal  observation. 
But  the  ^^new  philosophy’'  ignores  the  fact  that  the 
Bible,  on  the  sternest  penalty,  requires  faith  in  its 
profoundest  mysteries,  based  on  testimonial  evi- 
dence. It  requires  faith  in  facts  which  occurred  on 
unknown  principles,  whose  evidence  is,  therefore, 
entirely  out  of  themselves.  Miracles — that  occupy 
so  large  a portion  of  the  Bible — to  which  the  Great 
Restorer  himself  made  his  supreme  appeal — have 
ever  been  regarded  as  the  fittest  authentication  of 
supernatural  claims.  Otherwise,  men  and  devils  had 


AUTHOEITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 


167 


never  counterfeited  them.  Is  it  demanded,  that  as 
false  miracles  are  to  be  tested  by  their  tendency, 
(Dent,  xiii,  1-3,)  why  are  not  true  ones  to  be  so 
tested?  You  will  readily  answer  that  we  previously 
know  the  truth  of  principles  infracted  by  false  mira- 
cles, but  can  not  so  know  the  falsehood  of  what  is 
supported  by  true  miracles.  Thus,  while  true  mira- 
cles are  the  test  of  doctrines,  doctrines  are  the  test 
of  false  miracles.  The  mode,  therefore,  of  deciding 
what  is  from  God  is  unlike  that  of  determining  what 
is  not  from  him.  There  can  be  no  middle  way. 
Either  this  ^intuitional  reason”  pierces  the  depths 
of  Divinity,  or  the  purely-supernatural  doctrine 
must  find  its  highest  support  in  miraculous  attesta- 
tion. This  applies  to  the  Trinity,  the  incarnation, 
the  resurrection,  and  to  kindred  doctrines.  What 
can  be  more  glaringly  absurd  than  to  confound  our 
intuitional  conception  of  a miracle  with  such  a con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  that  to  which  it  attests  ? 
While  miracles  come  to  us  in  the  resistless  power 
of  first  principles,  shining  in  their  own  light,  that 
to  which  they  attest  may  be  revealed  only  by  the 
visions  of  eternity. 

That  the  Scriptures  make  a direct  and  exclusive 
appeal  to  the  evidence  of  sense,  in  support  of  these 
great  facts,  is  unquestionable.  Take  an  example  in 
the  central  miracle  of  the  Christian  religion — the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  The  whole  argument  for  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  (1  Cor.  xv)  assumes  the 
validity  of  external  evidence  in  support  of  a miracu- 


168 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


lous  fact.  The  entire  fabric  of  Christianity  is  made 
to  rest  on  the  testimony  of  the  hundreds  that  saw 
him  risen,  and  on  that  of  those  who  witnessed  the 
miracles  wrought  in  proof  of  the  fact.  The  unre- 
liability of  these  is  the  overthrow  of  the  Christian’s 
faith,  and  hope,  and  preaching.  The  great  principle 
here  asserted  is  the  rejection  of  a philosophical  or 
intuitive  support  of  Christianity,  and  the  proof  of 
its  miraculous  support.  This,  then,  is  subversive 
of  the  position  that  miracles  are  interpreted  and 
tested  by  doctrines,  and  not  doctrines  by  miracles. 
Were  the  former  so  it  would  utterly  supersede 
miraculous  attestation.  For  by  investing  the  mind 
with  a discernment  of  the  supernatural,  we  preclude 
all  demand  for  external  attestation  of  the  supernat- 
ural. What  could  be  more  impertinent  than  mirac- 
ulously to  authenticate  those  foundation  truths  were 
they  self-evident?  But  if  those  truths  be  not  self- 
evident,  it  is  impossible  they  should  test  miracles 
\vhich  are  self-evident. 

The  contempt  which  this  theory  has  generated  for 
the  external  evidence  of  revealed  religion  is  decisive 
of  the  inference  we  have  urged.  It  is  true  the 
Scriptures  are  replete  with  internal  evidence — 
like  the  great  fabric  of  nature,  which,  by  its  beauty, 
harmony,  immensity,  and  grandeur,  is  eloquent  of 
its  Author — evincive  of  God. 

But  this  evidence  is  not  primary,  but  secondary. 
Otherwise,  the  distinction  is  lost  between  natural 
and  revealed  religion.  The  fall  of  man,  the  trinity 


AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL.  169 

of  God,  the  incarnation,  resurrection,  and  ascension 
of  Christ,  and  the  like  truths,  would  lie  open  to  the 
intuitive  faculty,  as  does  the  unclouded  sun  to  the 
eye.  Now,  that  these  truths  lie  outside  of  the  intu- 
itive sphere  is  proved  by  a thousand  demonstrations. 
Otherwise  the  millions  utterly  ignorant  of  them 
should  have  in  all  ages  seen  them  with  the  clearness 
of  vision,  while  they  have  remained  blind  to  them 
as  the  clods  beneath  their  feet.  Where  would  many 
divinely-enjoined  acts  find  a justification  out  of  the 
authority  of  God?  Such  as  the  bloody  offering  of 
Abraham,  which  he  was  to  make  of  his  son;  the 
utter  destruction  of  men,  women,  and  children,  which 
Saul  was  to  make  of  the  then  peaceable  Amalekites. 
Would  not  the  broad  seal  of  impiety  and  inhumanity 
be  stamped  on  it  if  not  expressly  authorized  by  the 
Proprietor  of  all?  What  spiritual  foresight  could 
reach  that  authority,  without  which  authority  this 
would  be  murderous  cruelty?  Whatever  requires 
God  s attestation  to  revealed  truth,  that  very  thing 
requires  implicit  faith  in  that  truth  and  obedi- 
ence to  it,  and  prohibits  belief  in  it  prior  to  that 
attestation,  and  all  doubt  of  it  subsequent  to  that 
attestation. 

It  will  readily  occur  to  you,  that  next  to  the 
miracles  of  power  is  the  miracle  of  foresight  in 
prophecy j and  that  this  is  so  interwoven  with  cardi- 
nal doctrines  and  corresponding  precepts,  sustained 
by  miracles  of  power,  that  to  find  these  prophecies 
shams  would  be  stranger  than  the  most  stupendous 


170 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


miracle  of  the  Bible.  Did  not  God  recognize  the 
demand  of  his  commissioned  servants  for  miraculous 
attestation  ? He  gave  to  Moses  the  required  sign  to 
the  captives  in  his  wondrous  rod  ” — to  the  King 

who  demanded,  Show  us  a miracle  for  you.'’  Was 
not  Elijah's  prophetic  character  divinely  vindicated 
by  a miracle  which  blazed  from  heaven,  extorting 
from  idolaters  the  exclamation,  The  Lord  he  is 
God!”  Christ  himself  called  on  his  nation  to  test 
the  Divinity  of  his  character  by  the  ordeal  of  mira- 
cles. If  I do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe 
me  not.”  Indeed,  the  sacred  records  leave  the  ob- 
ject of  miracles  clear  as  vision,  saying,  These  mira- 
cles are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.”  To  authenticate  his 
disciples'  message,  ^^God  bore  them  witness  with 
signs,  and  wonders,  and  divers  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.”  So  palpably  do  both  Testaments  depend  on 
miracles,  that  they  every-where  recognize  the  prin- 
ciple, regarding  them  as  seals  pledging  the  Omnipo- 
tence and  Omniscience  for  the  truth  of  that  to  which 
they  attest.  When  did  the  Bible  ever  appeal  to  our 
intuitive  perception  ” of  its  truth  as  a ground  of 
our  faith  in  its  Divinity?  The  question  should  be 
trumpet-tongued.  No  affirmative  answer  is  possible. 

It  is  clear  as  light  that  this  alleged  sufficiency 
of  the  natural  is  the  utter  exclusion  of  the  super- 
natural. Now,  this  very  thing  is  the  stupendous 
achievement  of  the  ^^new  philosophy.”  It  abolishes 
the  supernatural  by  perpetually  affirming  the  es- 


AUTHORITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL.  171 


sential  unity  of  reason  and  revelation/’  and  by 
maintaining  that  Christian  faith  is  the  perfection 
of  human  reason;”  that  the  mind’s  spiritual  in- 
sight is  faith,  and  that  faith  is  this  insight.”  You 
will  instantly  discriminate  between  the  alleged  idm- 
tity  and  the  real  harmony  of  the  two.  As  the  light 
of  reason  intensifies  and  expands,  larger  portions  of 
revealed  truth  will  come  within  its  sphere ; but  this 
mental  progress  through  eternity  can  never  disclose 
all  that  Revelation  may  announce.  Has  any  thing 
in  the  Scriptures  struck  you  more  palpably  than 
that  they  require  us  to  believe  in  their  profound 
mysteries,  and  not  to  reason  them  out — to  weigh 
the  evidences  that  support  them,  but  to  seek  those 
evidences  out  of  the  mysteries  themselves  ? 

There  is  another  point  of  antagonism  between  the 
Scriptures  and  this  philosophy ; it  is  the  false  prin- 
ciple of  interpretation  which  this  adopts.  All  inter- 
pretation flowing  from  this  principle  is,  therefore, 
itself  false.  It  makes  that  very  Revelation,  which 
descended  from  Heaven  to  instruct  reason,  a subject 
of  the  critical  scrutiny  of  reason,  and  thus  turns  the 
Bible  into  a book  of  riddles,  to  be  solved  by  that 
very  faculty  which  could  not  grasp  those  truths 
which  the  Bible  discloses. 

How  this  new  philosophy”  is  related  to  sacred 
literature,  and  to  systematic  theology,  I need  not  ex- 
plain to  you.  It  will  spontaneously  occur  that  what 
is  intuitively  seen  is  not  laboriously  acquired — that  it 
can  not  need  science  and  literature — broad  and  pro- 


172 


LEGTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


found  scholarship ; that  rich,  and  grand,  and  priceless 
as  are  these,  they  are  huge  impertinences  in  relation 
to  what  is  intuitively  seen.  Here  the  far-reaching  at- 
tainments of  the  theologian — his  profound  researches 
in  ancient  lore  and  the  trifles  of  childhood — are  in 
value  on  the  same  level.  Kejecting,  therefore,  the 
^^new  philosophy'’  as  subversive  of  all  the  purposes 
for  which  we  are  to  search  the  Scriptures,  in  spite 
of  its  pretensions  we  must  regard  the  Bible  as  self- 
interpretative,  Indeed,  self-revelation  is  intrinsically 
necessary  to  a Divine  message,  so  far  as  to  reach 
every  essential  doctrine  of  the  message.  The  hidden 
harmony  in  the  minutest  details  of  the  Bible  is  the 
uniting  bond  in  its  great  outline.  Should  no  portion 
of  the  oracle  give  the  sense  of  what  is  obscure  in 
other  portions,  so  far  it  is  only  a revelation  for 
the  future — not  for  the  present.  The  whole  book 
that  is  a present  revelation  is,  therefore,  self-explica- 
tive, Were  its  highest  truths  within  the  grasp  of 
reason,  every  principle  of  interpretation  would  be  a 
useless  incumbrance.  For  if  reason  pierced  those 
truths  through  the  light  in  which  they  intrinsically 
shine,  all  attempts  to  converge  external  lights  upon 
them  were  a waste  of  energies.  For  the  most  part 
each  portion  of  these  oracles  is  a reflector  -shedding 
light  on  all  other  portions  of  them.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  an  intuitive  seizure  on  the  import  of  Scrip- 
tural mysteries,  that  import  is  found  by  an  elabora- 
tive  process  more  sifting  and  extensive  than  can  be 
demanded  by  any  other  book. 


AUTHOEITY  OF  THE  SUPEKNATUEAL. 


173 


Beloved  pupils,  I trust  you  will  appreciate  the 
reason  for  which  we  have  refrained  from  an  ^ex- 
pression of  those  intense  yearnings  for  your  future 
which  our  relations  to  the  departing  class  have  not 
failed  to  awaken.  Though  the  apprehension  would 
be  agonizing  to  the  Faculty  that  they  should  not 
remain  among  the  objects  of  your  tenderest  memo- 
ries, still  is  their  solicitude  greater  for  your  reten- 
tion of  the  great  principles  they  have  inculcated. 
If  either  our  persons  or  these  principles  must  fade 
from  memory,  cling  to  these  with  exhaustless  te- 
nacity, and  consign  us  to  oblivion.  We  must  die — 
these  will  live.  Our  voices  will  be  no  more  in  your 
ears — their  light  will  shine  on  all  your  future  foot- 
steps. We  have,  therefore,  seized  on  this  tenderest 
moment  of  our  history  to  engrave  on  your  faculties 
more  deeply  some  of  these  great  principles. 

Having  now  reached  the  point  where  our  ways 
divide,  we  feel  that  both  the  past  and  the  future 
are  present.  The  one  strangely  returns  departed 
events ; the  other  mysteriously  unbosoms  unborn 
events.  They  are  both  prophetic,  portraying  that 
coming  struggle  of  pleasure,  pride,  passion,  in  arms 
against  duty — error  against  truth.  The  portion  of 
your  being  passed  in  our  sacred  halls  is  related  to 
the  future  as  it  can  never  be  to  the  past.  There  is 
an  affecting  sense  in  which  our  future  and  yours 
will  not  be  apart. 

We  shall  never  cease  to  attend  you  till  we  cease 
to  be  among  men.  Memory  will  keep  you  with  us, 


% 


174  LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 

and  hope  will  keep  us  with  you.  Our  eye  will 
trace  your  path  of  toil;  our  heart  will  palpitate 
with  yours  in  your  hour  of  woe,  and  sympathize 
with  yours  in  the  rapture  of  success;  and  our  pray- 
ers shall  be  one  agency  in  securing  that  success. 
As  to  the  parent,  his  scattered  children  are  but  the 
diffusion  of  himself,  so  to  the  teachers  the  labors 
of  his  pupils  seem  to  be  the  workings  of  his  own 
mind.  Thus  are  we  cheered  by  the  prospect  that 
when  our  voices  shall  be  mute,  our  chairs  vacated — 
when  the  tall  grass  shall  wave  over  the  place  of 
our  repose — we  shall  still  act  in  the  minds  in  which 
we  have  breathed  our  own,  and  survive  in  the  per- 
sons which  were  so  long  parts  of  ourselves.  So  that 
we  part  in  an  hour  that  is  bright  with  a mysterious 
conviction,  that  the  uniting  link  can  neither  be  weak- 
ened by  the  flight  of  years  nor  dissolved  by  the  bolt 
of  death. 


VI. 


ON  THE  SUPERNATURAL  CHARACTERISTICS 
OF  CHRIST: 

A LECTURE  TO  THE  STUDENTS  OF  THE  GARRETT 
BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Young  Gentlemen, — In  accordance  with  your 
request,  I have  embodied  in  a lecture  some  of  the 
Supernatural  Characteristics  of  Christ.  But 
I must  not  address  this  lecture  to  you  without  an 
earnest  warning  against  every  attempt  to  scrutinize 
those  secret  laws  by  which  the  finite  and  infinite 
natures  compose  his  one  person.  Because  we  are 
divinely  authorized  to  predicate  of  Christ  what  we 
do  of  man,  and  also  to  predicate  of  him  what  we 
do  of  God,  we  are  not  to  infer  that  the  relations  by 
which  this  duality  becomes  personal  unity  can  ever 
be  scputable.  In  discussing,  then,  some  traits  in 
this  most  mysterious  character,  I shall  restrict  my- 
self to  what  God  has  said  of  it,  and  to  deductions 
from  these  utterances  required  by  the  laws  of 
thought. 

I first  predicate  of  Christ  that  to  decide  his 

character  to  be  more  than  human  is  to  determ- 

175 


176 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ine  its  divinity,  and  tliat  this  determination  settles 
the  divinity  of  his  religion.  That  his  history  was 
unique  at  every  stage  is  palpable  on  its  surface. 
The  few  light  and  simple  touches  which  draw  his 
childhood  unfold  a celestial  flower.  He  was  that 
holy  thing  of  which  prophetic  harps  had  myste- 
riously sung.  By  a single  stroke  of  the  inspired 
pen  his  childhood  loveliness  was  thus  depicted.  ^^He 
grew  up  in  favor  of  God  and  man.”  The  faces  of 
both  worlds  smiled  upon  him.  The  next  sketch  in- 
forms us  that  ^^he  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit, 
filled  with  wisdom.”  Had  fragrance  been  wafted 
on  him  from  both  worlds,  his  moral  sweetness  could 
not  have  been  intenser.  When,  at  twelve,  he  was 
among  the  literati  of  the  Temple,  propounding  and 
answering  far-reaching  questions — blending  modesty 
and  wisdom  so  as  to  astonish  without  offending  the 
great  doctors  of  the  law — his  response  to  his  chiding 
mother,  who  found  him  there,  was  a flash  of  light  on 
the  darkness  of  the  future. 

In  his  character  alone  was  greatness  based  on  in- 
nocence. In  all  others  this  quality  was  coupled  with 
childhood  weakness,  and  was  fatal  to  the  claim  of 
greatness;  but  in  him,  figured  by  a lamb,  it  was 
in  harmony  with  a manly  spirit,  detracting  not 
from  the  superhuman  grandeur  which  invested  him. 
The  matchless  power  of  this  strange  combination 
was  felt  by  all  who  approached  him.  When  he 
vacated  the  Temple  of  its  profaners,  they  did  not 
fly  before  his  physical  force,  but  before  that  mys- 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  CHRIST. 


177 


terious  majesty  within,  revealed  by  an  indignant 
flush  which  mounted  his  innocent  face.  Like  God 
in  nature,  he  clothed  his.  goodness  in  thunder  and 
tempest.  Though  his  whole  character  shone  in  the 
light  of  innocence,  yet  its  greatness,  decision,  and 
sublimity  seemed  measureless  as  they  were  spon- 
taneous. With  what  terrific  significancy  did  he 
demand  of  his  enemies,  Which  of  you  convinceth 
me  of  sin?”  The  challenge  was  sweeping.  How 
was  it  met?  Every  countenance  fell — every  mouth 
was  dumb!  This  would  have  been  so  in  all  worlds. 

The  blending  of  this  innocence  and  majesty  in 
Jesus  made  his  judge  tremble  before  the  prisoner  at 
the  bar,  and  wrung  from  him  the  avowal  of  his 
blamelessness,  and  the  proclaimed  purpose  to  take 
no  responsibility  in  his  blood.  And  when,  as  a 
drooping  flower,  he  hung  on  the  cross,  the  funereal 
grief  of  both  worlds  was  fit  honor  to  his  innocence 
and  majesty.  Kindred  to  this  was  that  other  trait 
found  in  his  religious  character,  which  is  in  entire 
contrast  to  that  of  all  religious  men.  Theirs  com- 
mence with  the  pangs  of  guilt;  his  in  the  sunshine 
of  innocence.  When  did  confessions  of  sin  or  of  un- 
worthiness  ever  escape  his  lips?  His  piety,  then, 
in  its  beginning,  was  radically  unlike  that  of  our 
whole  race.  Never  did  he  utter  regret  for  what  he 
had  thought,  felt,  said,  or  acted,  or  omitted.  How 
could  this  arrogant  claim,  though  tacitly  made,  fail 
to  cover  Christ  with  derision,  had  the  origin  of  his 
goodness  been  like  that  of  other  men  ? No  regret — 


178 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


no  reproach — no  compunction^  even  by  implication, 
was  ever  found  in  his  manifestations.  Who  was 
this,  without  a tear  of  contrition — a sigh  of  repent- 
ant grief — a confession  of  wrong?  The  root  of  his 
piety  was  in  innocence;  the  root  of  human  piety  is 
in  godly  sorrow.  What  would  be  proper  in  him 
would,  in  any  other,  be  intolerable  arrogance.  If, 
then,  he  were  sinless,  how  could  there  be  a greater 
exception  to  the  law  of  human  development  ? If 
not — if  he  inherited  sin — how  strangely  did  he  take 
up  religion  without  repentance,  and  practice  stain- 
less purity,  without  a spot,  to  the  end  of  life ! How 
could  his  character  awaken  the  admiration  of  the 
race,  and  yet  at  bottom  be  radically  false? 

Nor  were  his  social  characteristics  less  extraor- 
dinary. Who  else  was  ever  equally  remote  from 
laughter  and  moroseness?  He  was  alone  in  the 
serene  medium  he  occupied.  His  never-varying 
placidity  would  render  a mere  man  unendurable,  as 
his  heart  should  respond  to  those  varying  impulses 
which  it  was  formed  to  feel.  But  who  ever  com- 
plained for  the  want  of  sympathy  in  Christ?  His 
heart  related  chiefly  to  the  world  above,  and  its 
sympathies  flowed  through  deeper  channels;  still, 
on  fit  occasions  in  his  mighty  life,  the  depth  and 
richness  of  his  sympathies  were  evinced  by  their 
noble  outgushings.  Others  doomed  to  his  priva- 
tions would  awaken  our  pity,  but  who  ever  felt  that 
emotion  toward  him?  Dead  to  earthly  interest  as 
if  an  angel’s  heart  beat  in  his  bosom — though  im- 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  CHRIST. 


179 


passive  to  social  charms^  yet  without  repugnance  to 
them — without  the  slightest  tinge  of  misanthropy. 
His  relations  to  the  humanities  of  society  were 
under  the  law  of  absorption  in  the  glories  of  the 
Godhead.  Whether  at  the  wedding,  the  banquet, 
or  the  funeral,  his  emotions  arose  in  harmony 
with  the  occasion.  At  one,  he  congratulates ; at 
the  other,  he  instructs;  at  the  last,  he  weeps. 

Another  of  Christ’s  claims  was  inherent  affinity 
with  God.  ^‘1  came  forth  from  the  Father” — am 
from  above” — '^He  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God.”  These  are  among  the  astounding 
claims  which  strangely  harmonized  with  his  whole 
bearing.  He  assumed  toward  the  race  the  attitude 
of  supremacy — the  power  of  giving  repose  to  bewil- 
dered humanity.  Who  else  ever  dared  to  palm 
himself  on  the  world  as  its  patron — its  light — its 
deliverer;  yet  so  intimately  do  these  sentiments 
enter  into  his  teachings,  that  were  they  extracted 
from  it  nothing  would  remain.  How  deeply  it  is 
felt  that  his  tacit  assumptions  far  exceed  the  range 
of  all  formal  expression — as  and  the  Father  that 

sent  me!”  ^AVe  will  make  our  abode  with  him!” 
and  the  like.  What  mere  prophet,  apostle,  or  angel 
would  not  shudder  to  involve  such  a claim ! These 
claims  of  Jesus  have  been  sounding  through  the  ages 
for  eighteen  centuries,  and  none  have  been  able  to 
detect  dis<S*epancy  between  his  pretensions  and  his 
merits.  Were  he  not  Divine,  this  would  be  the  most 
vulnerable  point  of  assault.  This  is,  indeed,  the 


180 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


weakest,  if  it  be  not  the  strongest  point  in  his 
character. 

The  work  Christ  prescribed  to  himself  was  great, 
difficult,  and  complicated ; but  when  did  he  ever  slip 
or  falter  in  its  execution?  He  poured  on  his  work 
the  whole  energy  of  his  mighty  life,  without  a 
symptom  of  weariness.  Others,  with  not  a hund- 
redth part  of  his  work  on  their  hands,  are  impatient 
of  delay,  and  when  retarded  strike  fire  against  the 
obstacle  in  their  way.  But  Christ,  having  no  crude 
element  in  his  motives,  was,  in  the  presence  of  ob- 
stacles, calm  as  a Summer  evening;  the  darkest 
cloud  sailing  over  him  left  his  sky  unobscured. 
Were  he  merely  human,  the  sweep  of  his  plan  would 
prove  him  the  wildest  of  enthusiasts.  His  pro- 
gramme was  to  establish  a kingdom  of  God  pervad- 
ing the  whole  earth,  giving  a new  moral  constitution 
to  the  race — to  do  this  without  education,  in  the 
face  of  his  nation’s  prejudice,  and  despite  the  uni- 
versal empire  of  Rome.  In  accordance  with  this 
measureless  scheme,  he  proclaimed  himself — the 
Son — to  be  the  gift  of  the  Father’s  love;  the  field 
he  should  occupy,  the  world;  and  the  commission  of 
hrs  ministers,  commensurate  with  the  whole  race. 
All  the  records  of  the  race  may  be  challenged  to 
furnish  another  such  example.  The  founders  of 
states,  the  rulers  of  empires,  the  discoverers  of  con- 
tinents, lawgivers,  conquerors,  and  heroes  have  not, 
on  all  their  brilliant  list,  an  approach  toward  it. 

How  strange ! — the  son  of  a carpenter,  emanating 


CHARACTEEISTICS  OF  CHRIST.  181 

from  his  shop,  without  letters  or  titles,  without  ever 
having  seen  a map  of  half  the  nations  he  was  to 
control,  or  even  heard  their  names-^how  strange 
that  he  should  adopt  a scheme  sweeping  over  all 
nations,  and  all  their  generations ! What  was  the 
■Assyrian,  the  Grecian,  the  Eoman  empires — erected 
by  the  conquest  of  a thousand  fields,  and  cemented 
by  the  blood  of  mighty  heroes? — what  in  extent,  in 
grandeur,  and  in  the  principle  on  which  they  were 
founded  — those,  in  the  blood  of  myriads;  this,  in 
the  dying  love  of  philanthropy?  With  what  calm- 
ness and  assurance  did  the  Fouuder  look  through  his 
own  death  as  the  medium  of  the  brightest  achieve- 
ments of  his  great  enterprise.  Another  distinctive 
of  Christ  was,  he  commenced  his  kingdom  by  appro- 
priating the  poor.  His  manners,  tastes,  and  attain- 
ments were  all  diverse  from  those  of  his  chosen 
associates.  The  great  were  often  his  hearers  and 
admirers,  but  never  his  chosen  companions.  Among 
the  crowds  of  the  sick  he  was  like  a nurse  in  a 
hospital.  He  waited  on  pain,  and  vanquished  its 
causes.  The  whole  category  of  diseases  he  en- 
countered only  to  cure.  Thus  was  that  very  class, 
ignored  by  all  other  great  men,  the  special  regard 
of  Christ.  The  poor  had  been  made  the  appendages 
of  luxury — the  tools  of  ambition — the  instruments 
of  war.  He  made  them  the  friends  of  his  bosom, 
and  the  inheritors  of  his  kingdom. 

Indeed,  the  flight  of  eighteen  centuries  has  not 
fully  revealed  how  far  was  the  carpenter’s  son  in 


182 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


a^dvance  of  his  age.  This  anticipative  feature  in  his 
scheme  proclaimed  its  transcendent  depth  and  com- 
prehensiveness. It  has  been  ascertained  by  the 
operation  of  Christ's  kingdom,  that  to  upraise  the 
masses  is  the  highest  economical  interests  of  society. 
Christ’s  ORIGINALITY  as  a teacher  has  been  justly 
marked  with  deep  emphasis.  When  this  rare  char- 
acteristic distinguishes  men,  it  lies  within  the  bound- 
ary of  educated  thought — can  be  developed  only  by 
discipline.  But  to  all  his  cotemporaries  it  was 
known  that  Christ  had  never  learned.”  It  is  thus 
palpable,  on  the  very  face  of  his  lessons,  that  he  had 
nothing  in  common  with  his  age;  no  opinion,  taste, 
prejudice,  or  any  other  one  thing  belonging  to  a Jew 
of  Caesar’s  time.  The  assertion  that  he  drew  on  the 
Persian  or  Eastern  religion,  or  on  the  Essenes,  or 
on  the  more  famous  schools  of  Egypt,  is  so  utterly 
fanciful  as  not  to  deserve  refutation.  His  original- 
ity shines  through  freeness,  simplicity,  directness, 
and  thrilling  power  of  his  teaching.  All  self-made 
men,  not  excluding  Shakspeare  himself,  have  their 
productions  tinged  with  educational  colorings.  Not 
so  with  this  great  High  Priest  of  Nature  and  of 
God.  Far  from  philosophic  was  his  divine  teach- 
ing. No  argument  was  based  on  critically-con- 
structed premises.  Compared  to  his  teaching,  dia- 
lectic reasoning  is  an  opaque  substance  between  the 
eye  and  the  object.  His  utterances  filled  the ‘world 
with  a flood  of  light,  revealing  God,  which  the  con- 
spiracies of  all  hostile  agencies  have  failed  to  quench. 


CHARACTEKISTICS  OF  CHRIST. 


183 


His  lessons  still  come  upon  the  nations,  like  incense 
from  a higher  world,  to  neutralize  the  poison  they 
breathe. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  Great  Teacher  was,  his 
instant  repulse  of  every  national  expectation  of  the 
Messiah.  Well  did  he  know  how  eagerly  his  nation 
panted  for  a Messiah  that  should  make  their  Eoman 
conquerors  lick  the  dust.  But  he  told  them  that 
peacemakers  were  blessed — that  he  was  no  warrior, 
or  king,  or  avenger — that  his  mission  was  to  save 
them  from  the  very  characteristics  which  they  hoped 
would  most  distinguish  him.  Thus  did  he  dash  at 
once  their  most  cherished  hopes.  Still,  such  was  the 
ineffable  charm  which  invested  his  person,  that  thou- 
sands ceased  not  to  cling  to  him.  What  could  more 
severely  test  his  power  over  men  than  to  baffle  their 
dearest  hopes,  and  yet  retain  their  utmost  confi- 
dence? Again,  Christ’s  exemption  from  man’s  in- 
firmity is  proved  by  his  singular  balance  of  char- 
acter. What  age  has  not  been  marked  by  the 
operation  of  that  law  by  which  two  parties  advo- 
cate opposite  extremes,  and  a third  the  medium 
between  them.  None  have  been  on  the  exact  point 
of  equilibrium.  Christ  was  no  where  else.  This 
distinguished  the  great  teacher.  Knowing  truth 
intuitively j he  needed  not  to  compare  ideas,  or  bal- 
ance opposites;  the  conclusion  was  seen  in  the 
premises,  and  thus  all  one-sidedness  was  precluded. 
Let  a few  lessons  be  illustrations : His  disciples 

must  neither  renounce  their  allegiance  to  Caesar,  nor 


184 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


deny  their  Messiah  at  the  command  of  Csesar;  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  are  to  be  resisted  in  their 
tradition,  but  obeyed  in  the  commands  of  Moses. 

We  can  not  scrutinize  our  Great  Restorer  too 
intensely  as  a reformer.  What^  as  such,  did  he 
find  to  approve  in  society.  Church,  or  State?  Yet 
when  did  he  array  himself  in  antagonism  to  the 
world?  The  human  reformer,  finding  obstacles  in 
his  way,  which  nothing  but  his  death  can  surmount, 
becomes  restive  and  bitter  by  delay,  and  often 
kindles  into  a frenzy  threatening  to  sweep  away  the 
obstacles  in  his  way,  and  ends  with  a character  ^ 
tinged  with  malignity.  In  what  beautiful  contrast 
to  all  this  did  He  appear,  who  went  about  doing 
good,  his  history  decides.  Had  all  hearts  beat  in 
his  bosom,  he  could  not  have  been  more  serene  and 
cordial — more  patient  and  hopeful* — though  all  the 
institutions  in  the  world  were  on  his  hands  for  re- 
construction, and  a hundred  ages  the  requisite  pe- 
riod for  the  revolution.  I remark  again  that  he  was 
equally  remote  from  superstition,  and  what  is  styled 
liberality.  What  other  uneducated  mind  tends  not 
to  superstition  or  to  free-thinking?  But  how  un- 
approachably far  was  he  from  either!  How  cloud- 
lessly this  shines  in  many  of  his  short  lessons,  can 
not  have  escaped  us.  To  the  priests  he  said.  You 
think  that  the  Sabbath  of  Moses  stands  in  the  let- 
ter; I tell  you  that  it  was  made  for  man.  The 
same  superstition  could  instigate  his  murder,  but 
not  go  into  the  judgment-seat,  fearing  defilement. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  CHRIST. 


185 


It  was  not  liberality  but  charity  which  constituted 
the  ground  of  Christ’s  procedure. 

His  scrupulous  adherence  to  every  iota  of  truth 
excluded  all  error  with  that  laxity  involving  licen- 
tiousness. How  unlike  was  Christ,  at  another  point, 
to  the  great  sages  of  antiquity,  who  maintained  that 
the  -wise  only  were  capacitated  to  grasp  the  high 
arguments  for  the  Supreme ! He  placed  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  within  the  compass  of  every  class,  on 
principles  assuming  the  unity  of  the  race.  Hence 
we  infer  that  he  was  utterly  alone  in  his  manner 
of  teaching  all  ethical  duties.  His  was  not  an  elab- 
orated system,  wrought  out  by  abstruse  and  subtile 
argument,  but  inculcated  by  precepts  shining  by 
their  own  light,  and  robed  in  their  own  authority — 
flowing  from  the  loftiest  argument  without  employ- 
ing a shadow  of  argument.  When  did  Christ  study 
ethics  to  teach  morality  any  more  than  God  studied 
(Esthetics  to  fashion  the  landscape?  The  peerless 
splendor  of  his  mind  poured  itself  forth  in  those 
living  precepts  which  presuppose  principles  under- 
lying all  duties  — as,  Blessed  are  the  poor,  etc.; 
Do  good  to  them  that  persecute  you,  and  the  like. 
The  transcendent  beauty  of  this  doctrine  is  not 
exhibited  to  such  as  admire  it  as  a beautiful  pic- 
ture, but  to  such  as  practice  it  as  a rule  of  life. 
What  can  be  more  amazing  than  that  the  trans- 
cendent hight  of  these  lessons  is  no  bar  against 
their  permeating  the  commonest  mind. 

Of  the  many  remainihor  characteristics  of  God’s 


186 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


only  Son  was  the  increase  of  reverence  for  him  by 
familiarity  with  him.  It  is  a social  law  that  dis- 
tance lends  enchantment — intimacy  dissolves  the 
charms  and  reveals  the  infirmities  which  remoteness 
had  concealed.  Thus  great  men  are  reduced  to 
their  proper  dimensions,  and  our  estimate  becomes 
measured  by  their  qualities.  A law  the  reverse  of 
this  operated  in  the  case  of  Christ.  The  greater 
the  disciples’  intimacy  with  him,  the  deeper  their 
awe  of  him.  The  scale  was  ascending — their  views 
of  him  gradually  rose  from  the  man  to  the  God. 
At  first  he  was  the  son  of  Mary — then  he  spake 
with  authority — then  he  was  certainly  Elias  re- 
turned to  earth  in  resurrection  power — next  he  is 
the  promised  Messiah ; finally,  at  the  piercing  glance 
of  his  omniscient  eye,  Peter  breaks  down,  his  heart 
dissolves  in  contrition,  and  his  eye  in  tears.  In 
the  same  direction  his  enemies  advanced  in  their 
convictions.  At  first  they  regarded  him  as  a fa- 
natic; then  inquired  whence  he  derived  his  singu- 
lar accomplishments.  Next,  those  sent  to  arrest 
him,  awe-smitten  by  his  majesty,  exclaimed,  Never 
man  spake  like  this  man!”  Others,  coming  to  ap- 
prehend him,  drop  like  corpses  as  they  approached 
him.  His  silent  submission  made  Pilate  tremble  on 
his  judgment-seat;  and  when  guilt  was  consum- 
mated in  his  death,  the  multitude  returned  smiting 
on  their  breasts  with  anguish  before  his  suffering 
majesty.  Thus  growing  familiarity  issued  in  grow- 
ing reverence ; instead  of  disclosing  inferiority,  it 


CHARACTEEISTICS  OF  CHRIST. 


187 


revealed  mysterious  depths  of  divinity.  That  the 
fact  of  such  an  existing  person  in  human  history 
has  been  doubted,  we  blush  to  concede ; but  shall 
now  resort  to  none  of  that  abundant  evidence  by 
which  doubt  is  vanquished,  except  he  has  been  de- 
scribed. 

If  this  description  be  unreal,  then  this  character 
has  been  drawn  by  fancy ^ aided  by  fable.  But  to 
fabricate  such  a character  involved  greater  diffi- 
culty than  to  possess  it,  especially  for  four  to  do  it 
in  perfectly-substantial  harmony.  The  only  ade- 
quate reason  for  this  character  having  been  actu- 
ally portrayed  is,  that  it  has  been  actualized  by 
living  example.  No  poet  has  created  it ; no  novel- 
ist sketched  it;  no  philosopher  invented  it.  To  be- 
lieve it  the  achievement  of  fiction  requires  more 
credulity  than  to  credit  its  reality  in  Christ.  The 
fact,  then,  that  such  a character  is  described  is 
the  proof  that  such  a person  existed;  and  the  fact 
that  he  existed  is  the  proof  that  he  is  Divine. 
Vitiate  that  single  pretension — his  innocence — and 
you  make  him  an  impostor,  as  the  perfect  harmony 
of  his  character  makes  each  part  of  it  what  all 
other  parts  are;  but  if  the  root  of  all  the  trans- 
cendent beauty  which  adorned  his  character  were 
guiltj  then  was  it  a miracle  such  as  the  world 
never  heard  of. 

Who  ever  studied  his  life  without  feeling  there 
was  blended  in  it  the  sublimest  precepts  and 
the  divinest  practice — that  the  flood  of  truth  he 


188 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


poured  out  was  beautiful  as  the  light,  lofty  as 
heaven,  and  true  as  God ! Never  .did  the  sun  of 
humanity  rise  so  high  as  in  Jesus.  The  two  thou- 
sand years  which  have  fled  since  he  was  with  us 
have  failed  to  produce  one  among  the  millions  of 
men  who  has  fully  mastered  his  thoughts,  or  grasped 
his  method,  or  exactly  copied  his  stainless  life.  In 
this  rapid  sketch  of  Him  who  stands  alone  on  the 
records  of  the  universe,  you  will  perceive  that  none 
of  his  supreme  attributes  are  grouped  in  his  his- 
tory ; only  those  characteristics  are  collected  which 
beautified  the  human  sphere,  leaving  the  inference 
resistless  that  his  life  could  not  have  been  what  it 
was  had  not  his  person  been  what  he  claimed — 
EQUAL  WITH  GoD.’' 


VII. 


ON  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  LOCATING  A BIBLICAL 
INSTITUTE  IN  THE  WEST: 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  CONCORD,  N.  H. 


Beijthren  and  Friends, — While  the  expediency 
of  a Biblical  Institute  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  is  being  thoroughly  discussed,  that  in  New 
England  is  employing  a most  decisive  mode  of  argu- 
ment—its  workings  are  its  reasons.  It  has  toiled 
patiently  in  its  probationary  sphere  for  seven  years. 
Every  eye  in  the  New  England  ministry  has  been 
strained  to  scrutinize  its  operations.  There  has 
been  but  one  issue  of  this  rigorous  investigation. 
It  is  this,  a united  voice  for  an  ^Mnstitute,”  ring- 
ing from  end  to  end  of  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims. 

This  great  revolution  has  been  achieved,  not  by 
a single  turning  event,  not  by  a series  of  ingenious 
arguments,  not  by  the  preponderating  influence  of  a 
great  name,  but  by  the  beneficial  workings  of  the 
enterprise  itself.  These  proved  themselves  harmo- 
nious with  the  evangelical  scheme  of  the  itinerancy, 
that  they  were  a new  application  of  an  old  prin- 
ciple which  that  scheme  had  previously  incorpo- 
rated. When  this  conviction  shall  pervade  a larger 


190 


LECTUEES  AND  ADBEESSES. 


portion  of  the  Church,  she  will,  through  her  highest 
councils,  give  her  prompt  and  remorseless  sanction 
to  the  school  of  the  prophets.  Then  will  her  bishops 
be  her  committee  of  supervision,  her  conferences  be 
her  legal  guardians,  and  her  prayers  her  perpetual 
offering.  So  that  long  after  the  weary  hands  which 
have  toiled  to  establish  it  shall  be  cold  in  death, 
ten  thousand  voices  shall  greet  its  expansion,  and 
bless  the  dark  days  of  its  infant  agonies.  ^ 

No  discussion  on  the  merits  of  the  enterprise  will 
here  be  attempted.  Its  beneficial  character  must 
now  be  assumed,  so  that  5^011  may  allow  me  to  hint 
at  its  importance  in  the  great  American  Valley.’' 
Having  just  completed  a tour  of  observation  through 
this  future  garden  of  the  New  World,  I can  not 
repress  the  inspiration  of  its  scenes.  The  nation 
rising  up  there  has  suddenly  reached  a maturity 
which  history  records  of  no  other  nation.  This 
never  had,  like  other  nations,  a semi-barbarism  out 
of  which  slowly  to  emerge,  and  gradually  to  attain 
civilization  through  the  waste  of  centuries;  it  was 
born  in  full  manhood.  The  great  elements  of  its 
character  it  imported  from  the  disciplined  East; 
these  elements  it  has  improved  by  the  giant  object 
which  the  hand  of  nature  has  thrown  around  them 
in  the  West.  The  toils,  and  reverses,  and  perils 
which  often  crush  the  spirit  of  the  emigrant  have 
here  only  elicited  reserved  energies,  so  as  to  in- 
vigorate the  mind  and  enlarge  its  empire.  The 
encountering  of  obstacles  and  the  achievement  of 


BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  THE  WEST. 


191 


triumplis  have  here  been  forced  into  the  relation 
of  cause  and  effect.  It  was  impossible  that  the 
amplitude  of  the  scale  on  which  nature  is  displayed 
should  be  inoperative  on  man.  What  mind  can  find 
itself  in  this  wondrous  valley,  whose  circumference 
is  the  sweep  of  eight  thousand  miles  — whose  out- 
limits  are  the  hights  of  Alleghany  on  the  east,  the 
Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  the  south,  and  the  inland  seas  on  the  north  — 
and  not  feel  itself  expanded? 

The  exhaustless  wealth  of  the  Western  mines  — 
the  length  and  majesty  of  the  rivers  — the  ocean- 
like extent  of  the  prairies,  limited  only  by  the  in- 
ambient arch  of  heaven — are  among  the  peerless 
distinctives  of  this  great  country.  The  rush  of 
population  to  this  wide  harvest-field  has  had  no 
parallel  out  of  California.  Sixty  years  since,  over 
all  this  eight  thousand  miles  circumference,  were 
scattered  but  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls. 
Now,  ten  times  that  number  are  found  within  a 
single  State.  This  valley,  which  has  half  the  ex- 
tent of  all  Europe,  four  times  that  of  the  Atlantic 
States,  and  twenty  times  that  of  all  New  England, 
must  become  the  theater  of  stupendous  events. 
Here,  where  my  own  eyes  have  seen  a single  field 
of  corn  of  sufficient  extent  to  make  twenty  Eastern 
farms  — where  the  first  harvest  often  exceeds  in 
value  the  cost  of  the  soil  on  which  it  grows — it  is 
impossible  that  wealth  should  not  rapidly  accumu- 
late, and  population  speedily  become  dense.  Indeed, 
17 


192 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


the  recent  past  vouches  for  the  future.  Look  at 
the  city  of  Chicago,  which  in  less  than  two  years 
has  added  to  its  population  more  than  fifty  per  cent. 
An  increase  any  thing  like  this  ratio  would  people 
the  great  valley  with  scores  of  millions  long  before 
the  grave  will  open  to  receive  your  youngest  chil- 
dren. 

Nor  will  number  alone  be  the  exclusive  element 
of  power  in  the  West.  Another  will  be  found  in 
the  vigor  of  character  which  it  shall  furnish.  Its 
various  population  represents  nearly  twenty  nations 
of  the  Old  World.  Should  the  same  result  arise 
from  the  blending  of  these  nations  in  the  New 
World,  as  was  witnessed  by  the  commixture  of 
Eastern  and  Western  minds  by  the  Alexandrian 
and  the  Koman  conquests,  masterly  powers,  phys- 
ical and  intellectual,  will  here  develop  themselves. 
The  traveler,  while  gliding  over  these  broad  plains, 
revolving  such  thoughts,  feels  overpowered  by  the 
prospects  of  the  future.  He  hears  the  tread  of 
millions  rushing  into  these  exhaustless  fields;  he 
marks  the  agencies  which  are  to  operate  upon  them, 
both  physically  and  morally.  The  fertility  of  the 
soil,  the  ease  with  which  it  is  cultivated,  and  the 
perpetuity  of  its  productiveness,  admit  of  both  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  and  the  indulgence  of  indo- 
lence. All  history  shows  that  this  combination  in- 
sures speedy  corruption;  but  far  more  appalling  will 
he  regard  the  moral  agency  at  work.  He  looks  at 
Homan  superstition,  made  palatable  by  a most  al- 


BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  THE  WEST. 


193 


luring  address  wliicli  a thorough  education  for  that 
purpose  could  furnish,  and  which  has  marked  the 
West  for  the  field  of  its  triumph.  Jesuitical  arti- 
fice is  exhausting  its  resources  for  the  attainment 
of  this  object;  German  neology  operates  in  another 
direction  to  overthrow  our  institutions,  but  with 
not  much  less  fatal  efiicacy.  The  leaders  of  both 
these  classes  are  learned,  adroit,  persistent,  and  in- 
domitable. The  one,  to  make  this  young  republic 
a nation  of  infidels;  the  other,  to  crush  it  beneath 
the  foot  of  ^Giis  Holiness''  which  other  ages  have 
placed  on  the  neck  of  monarchs. 

In  view,  then,  of  this  fearful  capacity  for  self- 
corruption, and  these  powerful  temptations  to  per- 
petrate it,  the  problem  for  speedy  solution  is.  How 
shall  these  influences  be  counteracted?  That  the 
ministry  of  reconciliation  is  one  of  the  most  puis- 
sant elements  employed  by  God's  moral  government 
over  man,  is  known  no  less  by  its  tendency  than  by 
its  history.  The  legitimate  exercise  of  this  ministry, 
and  the  power  of  self-government,  stand  in  the  order 
of  cause  and  effect;  but  the  qualifications  of  these 
agents  must  correspond  to  the  purposes  of  their 
vocation  in  the  depth  and  breadth  of  their  culture, 
in  high  intellectual  discipline,  in  rich  and  grow- 
ing moral  wealth.  ^These  guard  the  pulpit  with  a 
might  which  nothing  else  below  a miracle  can  sup- 
ply. The  demand  in  the  West  on  our  pulpit  for 
’.hese  is  loud  and  unequivocal;  these,  combined  with 
he  restored  life  of  God  to  the  inner  man  of  the 


194 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


minister,  make  the  pulpit  an  agency  with  which 
Western  society  can  never  dispense.  Such  a min- 
istry is  a central  luminary  around  which,  as  satel- 
lites, schools,  and  colleges,  and  seminaries  gather. 

To  give  growing  strength  to  this  agency  in  the 
West,  the  friends  of  our  ministry  have  determined 
to  open  a Methodist  Biblical  Institute,  like 
that  at  Concord,  on  the  first  day  of  January  next, 
near  Chicago.  That  city  is  the  miracle  of  the  new 
world.  A more  eligible  location  could  not  be  at- 
tained out  of  the  Atlantic  States.  That  city  is  the 
gate  through  which  the  stream  of  population  passes 
into  the  boundless  prairies  beyond.  It  feels  the 
controlling  agency  of  Eastern  mind  made  larger  by 
communing  with  the  colossal  objects  of  the  West. 
It  is  distinguished  by  an  amount  of  intelligence, 
benevolence,  and  enterprise,  in  connection  with  our 
Church,  which  at  no  distant  period  will,  in  that 
great  valley,  quicken  our  institutions  into  higher 
life.  The  proximity  of  the  prospective  Institute 
to  the  North-Western  University  will  be  an  event 
of  great  importance  to  both  institutions;  each  to 
a most  beneficial  extent  will  act  on  the  other,  and 
up  to  a certain  limit  can  effect  a useful  exchange 
of  labor. 

But  you  will  permit  me,  friends,  before  dismiss- 
ing the  Western  enterprise,  to  detain  you  a few 
moments  with  my  own  relations  to  the  school  of 
the  prophets”  in  this  place — Concord.  I will  delay 
only  sufficient  to  reply  to  the  inquiry  urged  by  so 


BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  THE  WEST. 


195 


many,  Why  do  you  leave  the  Concord  Institute  ? 
To  this  I answer  explicitly,  the  reason  of  this  step 
is  not  a desire  for  a broader  and  brighter  sphere 
of  public  action.  If  there  be  such  within  the  range 
of  ministerial  duties,  it  is  in  this  case  without  al- 
lurement; nor  has  emolument,  or  fame,  or  more 
elevated  associations  any  agency  in  working  this 
change;  nor  has  the  abatement  of  interest  in  this 
noble  institution,  in  its  inmates,  its  officers,  its 
workings,  or  in  its  sacred  halls,  acted  the  smallest 
part  in  my  removal.  They  at*e  all  endeared  to  me 
by  the  strongest  ties  of  interesting  association.  The 
scenes  which  have  opened  on  us  here  are  among 
those  few  that  are  the  most  deep  and  tender  of  life. 
The  hundreds  of  commissioned  young  men  who, 
under  the  sacred  pressure  of  a call  from  Heaven, 
have  here  investigated  inspired  truth  with  an  earn- 
estness to  which  nothing  but  God’s  voice  could  have 
moved  them,  seem  still  to  hover  around  this  con- 
secrated center,  though  their  farewell  long  since 
trembled  on  their  lips. 

But  at  the  command  of  duty  the  dearest  and 
highest  associations  must  be  sundered.  Nor  is  it 
dread  that  the  formidable  opposition  to  the  Insti- 
tute will  again  be  arrayed  against  it  which  it  so 
patiently  endured  at  its  incipiency,  by  some  who 
should  have  deeply  seated  it  in  the  affections  of 
their  heart;  nor  the  pecuniary  embarrassments  with 
which  it  so  bravely  struggled  when  it  was  totally 
without  funds;  nor  do  I dissolve  my  relations  to 


196 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


tlie  Institute  because  the  experiment  lias^  in  the 
slightest  degree  been  a failure.  Directly  the  re- 
verse! The  rigor  of  the  test  by  which  it  has  been 
tried  has  developed  its  inherent  vitality — has  shown 
that  it  burst  into  being  by  the  force  of  Frovidential 
circumstances,  and  can  never  lose  its  power  to  live 
till  its  mission  is  accomplished.  Its  present  position 
precludes  the  need  of  recalling  those  unique  facts 
strewed  along  its  seven  years'  pilgrimage.  Nor  do 
I seek  another  post  in  the  hope  of  occupying  one 
less  toilful.  It  is  true  this  has  been  exhaustingly 
laborious;  that  it  has  tasked  every  hour  and  every 
energy;  that  it  has  compelled  us  to  watch  while 
others,  slept.  But  as  claims  equally  exacting  will 
be  made  in  my  next  field,  lighter  labor  can  create 
no  incentive  to  choose  it.  Nor  can  the  fear  of 
diminished  support  remove  me  to  the  West.  The 
state  of  our  finances  was  never  so  hopeful  as  at 
this  moment.  The  mass  of  Methodistic  mind  in 
New  England  having  reached  the  conclusion  that 
the  Institute  supplies  a desideratum  in  our  Church, 
it  will  advance  to  its  support.  By  cautious  and 
successive  steps  it  has  been  guided  to  this  con- 
clusion; the  light  of  observation  has  fallen  on  its 
path,  and  conviction  has  culminated. 

Indeed,  there  are  cheering  indications  that  the 
dark  days  of  its  pecuniary  embarrassment  are  num- 
bered. In  one  word,  a teacher’s  place  in  this  In- 
stitute j with  all  its  anxieties,  privations,  and  toils, 
is  one  of  the  most  eligible  to  which  I could  look 


BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  THE  WEST.  197 

forward  in  this  militant  state.  You  ask,  Why  then 
abandon  it  ? I answer,  To  occupy  a field  louder 
in  its  claims,  and  sterner  in  its  demands.  This  is 
the  motive  and  the  only  motive  within  the  com- 
pass of  thought.  The  West  — the  generous,  mag- 
nanimous West- — rich  in  its  resources,  irrepressible 
in  its  energies,  magnificent  in  its  achievements  — 
stretching  one  hand  to  the  Atlantic  on  the  east, 
and  the  other  over  the  Pacific  on  the  west  — the 
future  center  of  nations  where  the  destiny  of  the 
species  may  yet  be  arbitrated  — this  grand,  myste- 
rious reservation  of  God  for  the  home  of  his  Church, 
is  the  place  for  our  next  ministerial  school.  There, 
near  Chicago,  the  future  London  of  the  New  World, 
will  it  stand  on  the  salubrious  banks  of  that  inland 
sea.  I do  not  leave  you,  then,  to  abandon  this  sub- 
lime object  to  which  I have  consecrated  what  little 
remains  to  me  of  life,  but  to  promote  it  more  effect- 
ually in  the  midst  of  a broader  field.  But  let  me 
beseech  every  friend  of  ministerial  education  to  act 
unwaveringly  for  the  interests  of  this  Institute. 

Now,  my  dear  young  brethren,  having  taken 
these  few  retrospective  glances,  may  I be  permitted 
to  make  one  or  two  prospective  utterances?  Earn- 
estly desiring  to  divert  none  of  your  number  from 
Concord  Institute  — possessing  the  advantage  of 
seven  years'  priority  — I simply  suggest  that  you 
leave  Chicago  Institute  to  those  whose  residences 
are  nearer  to  it  than  to  this  place,  and  to  those 
intending  to  seek  their  future  itinerant  field  in  the 


198 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


West.  Such  we  shall  greet  with  the  liveliest  in- 
terest in  our  distant  halls,  and  assure  them  that 
their  associations  with  Western  mind  in  the  class- 
room will  be  a momentous  preparative  to  their 
higher  command  of  that  mind  in  the  itinerancy. 
There  will  be  formed  an  acquaintance  with  those 
peculiar  agencies  which  have  so  largely  contributed 
to  form  Western  character. 


VIII. 


THE  TEACHER’S  PARTING  WORD: 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  FIRST  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE 
GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Beloved  Pupils, — Prior  to  a few  parting  words 
to  you,  will  you  permit  me  to  utter  a single  sug- 
gestion to  the  audience  ? Friends  of  ministerial 
education,  the  events  of  this  evening  assure  you 
that  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  shall  have  a 
history  all  its  own.  This  first  class  which  it  grad- 
uates carries  us  back  to  its  origin  and  forward  to 
its  futurity.  The  developments  of  its  future  will 
never  cease  to  borrow  splendor  from  the  facts  of 
its  origin.  The  premature  departure  of  its  noble 
founder  has  only  made  dearer  to  memory  her  beau- 
tiful character.  Cold  is  that  great  heart  which 
Conceived  the  institution,  motionless  the  hand  that 
founded  it,  and  sightless  the  eyes  that  looked  with 
maternal  intensity  on  its  infant  being.  But  though 
^^dead  she  yet  speaketh;’’  and  the  tones  of  her  gen- 
tle voice  shall  create  the  music  of  ages.  Hers  is 
among  those  embalmed  names  which  were  never 
born  to  die.  It  will  have  utterance  on  distant 

shores,  where  its  anointed  students  shall  blow  the 

199 


200 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


living  trumpet.  Would  that  Godlike  woman  were 
present  with  us  to-night ! And  is  she  not  ? I 
know  that  face  is  pale  which  was  mantled  with 
blushes  at  our  opening,  when  designated  by  the 
thrilling  eloquence  of  our  lamented  Watson.  I 
know  that  bosom  is  still  which  then  yearned  and 
throbbed  for  the  elevation  of  our  ministerial  stand- 
ard ; but  I do  not  know  that  the  seraphic  spirit 
that  warmed  it  shares  not  in  our  deep  emotions. 
If  from  their  seats  of  light  the  just  look  down  on 
their  pilgrim  brethren — if  they  participate  in  the 
deepest  emotions  of  rejoicing  humanity  — she  now 
mysteriously  hears  the  voice  that  breathes  her 
name,  and  secretly  hovers  around  us  while  we 
commemorate  her  immortal  achievement.  But  if 
her  ethereal  abode  is  too  lofty  for  such  commin- 
gling, it  is  not  unadapted  to  her  survey  of  those 
imperishable  results  of  her  bequest,  which  shall 
brighten  the  expanding  circle  of  coming  ages. 

Turning  to  you,  beloved  class,  I beg  to  remind 
you  of  the  point  you  have  reached,  and  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities which  ensue.  Here  our  ways  divide, 
our  relations  dissolve,  and  a new  sphere  of  action 
opens  before  you.  You  will  no  more  reappear  to 
fill  the  seats  you  have  vacated  in  our  halls.  The  , 
itinerant  field  opens  before  you,  and  we  trust  will 
smile  beneath  the  culture  of  your  hands.  But  this 
change  from  being  students  in  the  Institute  to  be- 
coming itinerants  on  the  circuit  but  partially  sepa- 
rates you  from  your  former  selves.  The  student 


THE  teacher’s  PARTING  WORD.  201 

will  ever  look  forward  to  the  itinerant,  and  he  will  as 
steadily  look  back  on  the  student.  How  broad  soever 
may  be  the  limits  of  your  mental  development,  of 
this  one  fact,  your  researches  have  convinced  you 
that  this  culture  is  only  in  its  incipiency.  Should 
it  ever  be  completed  in  the  remotest  and  brightest 
futurity,  you  are  sure  that  this  consummation  lies 
far  beyond  the  limits  of  your  earthly  pilgrimage. 
A finished  education  makes  no  part  of  the  history 
of  the  universe.  A stationary  mind  would  obstruct 
the  wheels  of  Providence,  and  make  a jarring  chord 
in  the  harp  of  infinite  praise.  Your  culture  has 
begun,  but  is  not  finished.  The  functions  of  your 
ministry  should  not  obstruct  but  advance  it.  In 
all  the  unfoldings  of  divine  mystery  no  scene  may 
more  astonish  us  than  the  unlikeness  of  our  present 
selves  to  our  future  selves. 

But  though  to  dwarf  the  intellect  involves  ineffa- 
ble guilt,  the  advance  of  that  endowment  is  not 
your  only  mission.  Your  institutional  advantages 
are  indeed  priceless.  They  are  ordained  to  throw 
forward  an  accumulating  light  upon  all  the  stages 
of  your  endless  advancement.  But  a stronger  ele- 
ment than  intellectual  wealth  appertains  to  the 
ministerial  character.  It  must  be  imbued  by  the 
mighty  unction  of  the  living  God.  Whatever  is 
substituted  for  this  unction  is  no  less  to  be  dreaded 
by  the  minister  than  ignorance  itself.  Acquire 
whatever  you  may  of  all  that  adorns  the  mental 
being.  Never  let  it  escape  you,  my  dear  brethren, 


202 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


that,  wanting  this  supernatural  element,  your  de- 
fect would  be  radical. 

The  sacredness  of  the  ministerial  character  is  no 
where  found  separate  from  this  heavenly  endow- 
ment. This  was  the  matchless  distinction  of  the 
fathers  in  the  great  Wesleyan  reform.  Their  glow- 
ing philanthropy  had  been  kindled  at  the  altar  of 
God.  It  is  true,  a portion  of  them  were  peerless 
in  their  scholarship ; long  had  they  communed  with 
the  great  minds  of  departed  ages — enriched  their 
stores  by  the  mental  wealth  of  the  dead  and  of  the 
living — still,  the  splendors  of  their  learning  shone 
subordinately  to  the  flame  of  their  devotion.  This 
made  their  aim  single,  their  zeal  intense,  their  en- 
ergies undivided,  and  their  self-sacrifice  a habit  of 
life,  and  their  sacred  sympathy  commensurate  with 
the  world’s  moral  miseries.  In  perilous  achieve- 
ments they  were  heroes — in  spirit  they  were  mar- 
tyrs— in  success  they  were  apostolical — in  unself- 
ishness sublime.  (Commune  evermore,  my  dear 
brethren,  with  these  model  ministers.  At  the  earn- 
est call  of  your  voice  they  will  reappear  on  the 
stage,  and  act  over  again  their  noble  part  before 
your  eyes.  May  they  ever  live  in  their  successors, 
and  even  be  exceeded  by  their  sons ! 

Another  element  of  power  found  in  the  vital  doc- 
trines of  our  Great  Teacher  I have  not  time  to 
even  specify.  Let  me,  however,  beg  you  not  to 
overlook  the  genius  of  our  religion,  that  it  is  founded 
on  miraculous  facts — that  its  particular  duties  are 


THE  teachek’s  paeting  woed.  203 

enjoined  by  the  inculcation  of  far-reaching  princi- 
ples— that  its  vicarious  character  gives  no  more 
luster  to  mercy  than  it  does  terror  to  justice — that 
its  grand  aim  is  not  merely  to  civilize  humanity, 
but  to  restore  and  purify  it — not  to  fit  man  for  so- 
ciety, but  for  the  skies.  No  elegance  of  manner, 
no  depth  of  culture,  no  personal  blandishments  can 
take  the  place  of  these  vital  truths.  These  must 
be  arranged  in  their  order,  traced  to  first  princi- 
ples, and  applied  in  their  details. 

But  in  these  parting  words  permit  me  to  remind 
you,  brethren,  of  your  special  relation  to  the  insti- 
tution. In  Methodism  an  institutional  education  of 
our  ministry  is  a modern  expedient.  You  are  the 
first  representatives  of  such  a training  to  the  Church 
in  the  North-West.  In  a most  inquisitive  gaze 
every  eye  will  be  fixed  on  you.  In  your  character 
will  be  studied  the  character  of  the  institution. 
Should  yours  exhibit  an  awkward,  forbidding,  or 
morose  bearing,  what  will  be  the  inference  as  to 
your  ^^Alma  Mater  T'  Not  that  she  is  adapted  to 
form  ministerial  character,  but  rather  to  manufac- 
ture churlish  monks — not  to  qualify  men,  but  to 
unfit  them  for  that  varied  adaptation  demanded  in 
the  itinerant  field.  On  the  other  hand,  should  your 
social  character  be  imbued  with  levity  or  pedantry, 
what  else  will  be  referred  to  the  institution  which 
is  supposed  to  have  formed  it? 

Let  us  hope,  then,  that  your  class  will  appreciate 
the  immense  importance  of  fairly  representing  this 


204 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


newly-adopted  mode  of  our  ministerial  education, 
that  the  beauty  of  its  character  will  allure  others 
to  our  sacred  halls  where  that  was  molded,  and 
that  it  will  be  a worthy  forerunner  of  those  com- 
missioned thousands  which  are  to  pass  from  thence 
into  the  Lord’s  great  harvest-field  of  the  World. 

Who  that  nobly  aspires  at  higher  ministerial  at- 
tainments would  not  recoil  from  the  Institute  should 
they  find  in  its  graduates  those  revolting  char- 
acteristics? Whether  this  shall  be  the  mode  of 
educating  our  junior  ministry  is  not  yet  an  en- 
tirely-adjudicated question.  In  the  character  of  our 
students  will  be  •sought  the  test  of  experiment.  If 
that  character  shall  have  serenity,  beauty,  and 
force,  then  will  it  inscribe  approval  in  letters  of 
light  on  the  most  enduring  monuments  of  the  age. 
When  our  graduates  shall  exhibit  that  prismatic 
beauty  of  character  which  shines  in  the  growing  cul- 
ture of  intellect,  the  expanding  richness  of  thought, 
and  the  intenser  flame  of  devotion — when  the  ar- 
dor of  Peter,  the  affection  of  John,  and  the  heroism 
of  Paul  shall  shed  on  that  character  their  blended 
brightness — then  will  our  Church  regard  the  prob- 
lem solved ; then  will  you  honor  your  institution, 
your  instructors,  your  Church,  your  race,  and  your 
God;  then  will  you  live  to  be  loved,  die  to  be 
lamented,  and  enter  the  general  assembly  to  be 
greeted  by  your  converts,  and  crowned  by  your 
Master. 

Should  the  delusion  to  any  extent  afiect  you, 


THE  teacher’s  PARTING  WORD.  205 

that  education  is  an  end^  and  not  a means  to  a 
loftier  end,  so  far  would  the  perversion  of  your 
education  be  complete.  The  end  is  action — wise, 
persistent,  all-mastering  action — action  that  yields 
to  no  obstacle — that  knows  no  defeat — that  erects 
in  every  field  of  godlike  enterprise  monuments  of 
its  sanctified  power. 

And  now,  beloved  pupils,  let  the  hour  that  sepa- 
rates us  attest  to  our  final  purpose — a purpose  of 
deep  and  everlasting  self-consecration — a purpose 
which  shall  command  all  the  powers  of  our  nature, 
and  all  the  motives  of  our  being — a purpose  which 
shall  control  all  our  acquired  abilities,  all  our  in- 
herited faculties,  and  all  our  gracious  attainments — 
a purpose  which  shall  lay  under  contribution  the 
subjective  and  objective  to  that  one  immortal  aim. 
Then  shall  we  live  less  for  the  present  and  more 
for  the  future  — less  for  ourselves  and  more  for 
others — less  for  earth  and  more  for  heaven. 

Then  when  earth’s  great  drama  shall  be  wound 
up — when  all  prophecy  shall  become  history,  and 
all  history  shall  have  been  completed — when  its 
vast  volume  shall  have  been  thrown  open  on  the 
judgment-seat  for  the  race  to  read,  and  the  divided 
throng  shall  enter  each  its  respective  abode,  may 
ours  not  be  wanting  the  souls  we  shall  have  won ! 
There  shall  be  renewed  our  suspended  intercourse, 
and  the  farewell  of  this  period  become  the  greeting 
of  that. 


I 


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'i  f'f 


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■ ■ c?TA 

i ■?/ 

s ^l^-n 

' ■ * 

^ . '■:  }f1J: 

.■'i'-'l.,  ' • '-:'  i‘.)' 

,.  ' .'.  >p/  ISA  ••n  ■ ' \'i-\ 


i.V<^i/w 

.:/uafJni 

* L*.^"i.^  . biUf 


\ 


IX. 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL-MAN  SOCIAL: 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  LITERARY  SO- 
CIETIES OF  THE  UPPER  IOWA  UNIVERSITY. 


Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  of  the  Society, 
AND  Friends,  — In  obedience  to  the  call  with 
which  you  have  honored  me,  I have  been  com- 
pelled, in  the  midst  of  pressing  cares,  hastily  to 
prepare  for  the  occasion — to  dispense  with  that  de- 
liberate preparation  imperiously  demanded  by  our 
annual  addresses.  So  intense  has  been  my  desire 
for  the  mental  culture  of  our  young  men,  that  to 
decline  any  effort  to  promote  it  would  be  unmanly. 
But  how  far  a burning  desire  for  this  will  compen- 
sate for  sweeping  thought  and  enchanting  style  — 
which  most  contribute  to  this — yourselves  must  de- 
termine. 

The  theme  for  the  occasion  is  man  an  individ- 
ual, and  man  a society.  On  this  broad  subject, 
which  volumes  could  not  exhaust,  I propose  to  de- 
tain you  but  for  a brief  period.  The  axiomatical 
injunction  of  Greece,  ^^Know  thyself,’'  will  have 

undiminished  pertinency  while  any  of  the  great 

18  207 


208 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


problems  of  our  being  remain  unsolved.  Through 
all  the  ages  which  will  fail  to  raise  the  covering  of 
mystery  from  those  secrets,  ^^the  proper  study  of 
mankind  will  be  man.’’ 

I.  Let  us  direct  a searching  glance  toward  him, 
physically,  intellectually,  and  morally. 

1.  The  physical  man  is  the  combination  of  all  that 
is  exquisite  in  the  animal  structures  of  all  the  ages 
of  geology,  and  of  all  the  existing  tribes  of  our 
globe — “it  is  the  noblest  material  work  ever  con- 
structed by  the  Divine  Architect.  Nor  is  this  less 
true  of  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  formed.  Its 
tenant  is  a spirit  kindled  by  Jehovah’s  breath,  hav- 
ing a domain  of  its  own  controlling  interests,  which 
no  thought  can  measure,  and  fed  by  the  living  fires 
of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  Such  an  object  we  would 
not  adore  like  classic  Greece,  but  would  furnish  it 
a culture  in  harmony  with  its  most  delicate  laws. 
The  dirge  of  monastic  pietism,  which  crushes  the 
physical  man,  was  the  music  of  a departed  age. 
The  starving  and  flagellation  of  the  cell,  based  on 
that  paganism  which  pronounced  matter  an  eternal 
evil,  have  given  place  to  a better  philosophy,  bap- 
tized in  a purer  Christianity.  It  was  not  in  clas- 
sical Greek  but  in  Gospel  Greek  that  the  body  was 
entitled  the  Infinite  Spirit’s  temple.  To  leave  this 
divine  residence  to  dilapidate  can  not  be  innocent. 
While  the  tie  remains  which  binds  the  mind  to  the 
body,  ^^Mens  sana  in  corpore  sano'*  will  remain 
true.  Their  reciprocal  action  is  mighty  and  un- 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


209 


ceasing.  In  such  a body  only  can  the  spirit  be 
clear  as  the  upper  ether,  and  cheerful  as  the  light 
of  morning.  No  law  of  health,  then,  can  be  vio- 
lated without  the  infraction  of  a higher  law.  No 
matter  whether  this  violation  is  by  muscular  inac- 
tion or  by  mental  overaction,  the  penalty  is  never 
slight  or  remote. 

2.  But  in  adverting  to  man  intellectual,  I 
must  beg  you  to  ascend  to  a higher  sphere  of  in- 
quiry, and  contemplate  that  which,  in  kind,  is 
alone  in  the  universe.  In  this  nature  man’s  kin- 
dredship  is  not  to  animals,  but  to  angels.  His 
mind  is  an  actor ; it  takes  rank  with  the  origina- 
ting powers  of  the  universe.  It  has  the  structure, 
faculties,  laws,  and  function  all  its  own.  By  its 
intuitions  truth  is  seen  as  the  sun  is  by  the  eye. 
By  its  discursive  powers  truths  are  analyzed  and 
synthesized  till  its  generalization  pervades  the  whole 
field  of  thought. 

In  his  intellectual  nature  of  a threefold  classifica- 
tion, there  is  a proportionately-small  class  endowed 
with  genius.  This  is  called  immortal,  and  makes 
every  thing  so  which  it  touches.  Its  glow  intensi- 
fies into  a delirium,  whose  brilliancy  enchants  the 
ages.  In  its  infantile  simplicity  and  supernatural 
shoots  of  irregular  power,  it  blends  the  baby  and 
the  cherub.  Its  subject  is  an  object  of  both  pity 
and  envy.  Genius  has  points  of  contrast  with  tal- 
ent, Still  of  the  master  minds  of  the  race  are 
these  two  illustrious  categories— the  one  as  bright 


210 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


in  fancy  as  the  other  is  deep  in  reason.  Imagina- 
tion and  invention  glow  in  the  former,  as  conception 
and  comparison  distinguish  the  latter.  The  flight 
of  genius  is  through  the  ideal  realm,  which  it  peo- 
ples with  the  unfallen ; the  task  of  reason  is  to  ad- 
just the  stern  realities  which  it  finds  in  the  tan- 
gible universe.  While  invention  is  the  boast  of 
genius,  execution  is  the  glory  of  talent.  But  con- 
trast may  give  place  to  comhination — genius  and 
talent  may  blend — then  the  ethereal  and  the  solid, 
the  inventive  and  the  executive,  the  originator  and 
the  cultivator,  unite  to  form  the  representative,  the 
monumental  mind.  In  such  a mind  the  spirit  of 
the  age  is  born,  the  central  ideas  of  history  are 
originated. 

But  when  these  endowments  exist  apart,  why  is 
greater  nobility  awarded  to  genius  than  to  talent  ? 
Not  because  its  wizard  power  summons  into  being 
its  new,  stupendous  creations,  making  its  relation 
higher  to  business  life,  but  partly  because  it  meets 
the  mystic  demand  of  our  nature,  and  partly  be- 
cause it  is  oftener  combined  with  talent;  that  is, 
genius  oftener  comprehends  talent  than  it  is  com- 
prehended by  talent.  Thus  the  former  is  oftener 
prominent  than  the  latter  where  they  are  found  in 
combination.  But  irrespective  of  all  these  distinct- 
ives,  intellect  is  stamped  with  a greatness  which 
sustains  its  relation  between  its  nature  and  its  des- 
tiny. Still,  this  generic  grandeur  is  never  in  con- 
flict with  specific  variety.  Of  this  a type  is  fur- 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


211 


nished  by  the  physical  universe.  Nature  is  not  all 
equal  lines,  smooth  surfaces,  or  eternal  plains;  its 
beautiful  face  is  variegated  by  hill  and  dale,  by 
mountains  and  valleys,  by  land  and  ocean,  by  plan- 
ets, suns,  and  stars.  Nor  is  this  a larger  variety 
than  society  furnishes  in  harmony  with  the  variety 
of  the  underlying  intellect — minds  unequal  in  power, 
capacity,  and  taste — in  intelligence,  activity,  and 
energy.  The  mass  of  minimum  intellect  amuses  it- 
self with  atoms — the  maximum  intellect  sports  with 
worlds.  The  medium  intellect  occupies  all  the  va- 
rious space  between.  While  the  last  buries  him- 
self in  the  furrow,  where  he  communes  with  the 
clods,  the  first  weighs  the  worlds  of  light  which  he 
surveys  from  the  peaks  of  the  globe.  But  the  class 
of  Newtons  who  measure  the  comet’s  flight,  or  of 
the  Franklins  who  steal  the  lightning  from  the 
chambers  of  heaven,  is  small.  Most  minds  are  con- 
tent to  never  burst  away  from  the  narrow  inclos- 
ures of  common  thought.  To  expect  equality, 
either  in  endowments  or  improvements,  would  be 
Utopian  as  the  wildest  dream.  Of  such  minds  no 
world  was  ever  composed. 

This  intellectual  variety  is  accompanied  with  a 
corresponding  dissimilarity  through  the  whole  do- 
main of  emotional  nature.  Hence,  the  positive  and 
negative  belong  no  less  to  society  than  to  electric- 
ity— they  relate  to  all  earth’s  categories,  and  open 
the  broadest  channels  for  mutual  culture  and 
bliss. 


212 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


3.  But  there  is  still  a loftier  conception  of  hu- 
manity in  man  moral. 

The  very  construction  of  the  framework  within 
evinces  the  paramount  greatness  of  our  own  moral 
nature.  It  is  on  this  spiritual  side  of  his  nature 
that  man  stands  nearest  to  his  Maker.  On  this  fac- 
ulty the  Divine  image  is  most  legibly  impressed — 
here  the  seal  of  Jehovah  is  least  effaceable.  The 
functions  assigned  to  this  power  are  not  to  discrimi- 
nate between  profit  and  loss — between  what  is  court- 
eous and  uncivil,  or  to  act  in  the  domain  of  aesthetics, 
distinguishing  the  beautiful  from  the  deformed — but 
to  discriminate  between  right  and  wrong — between 
holiness  and  sin — and  to  operate  impulsively  in  har- 
mony with  such  perceptions. 

This  is  the  only  endowment  of  the  mind  which 
could  not  have  been  other  than  it  is.  As  the  moral 
nature  of  Grod  is  the  crowning  perfection  of  all  his 
great  attributes,  equally  conspicuous  does  that  na- 
ture shine  amid  human  powers.  This  conclusion  is 
reached  by  the  original  construction  of  the  mind  it- 
self no  less  than  from  an  experience  which  claims 
universality.  The  philosophy  which  inspires  not 
veneration  for  this  loftiest  faculty  of  our  nature 
must  be  falsely  so  called.  It  is  true  the  horizon  of 
moral  relations  expands  slowly  before  this  unfolding 
power,  but  hereafter  that  expansion  will  go  on  with 
a sublime  movement  till  the  principle  of  conscience 
shall  become  absolute  and  shall  pervade  the  whole 
man.  Till  this  representative  of  God’s  image  shall 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


213 


become  installed  over  the  world  within — till  it  shall 
acquire  this  sovereignty  over  the  whole  soul,  it  can 
not  be— as  is  intended — an  image  of  Jehovah’s  gov- 
ernment over  the  universe.  It  is  almost  without  a 
figure  that  Q-od  is  called  an  almighty  conscience, 
and  his  government  the  omnipotence  of  right.  With 
fit  allowance  this  is  true  of  our  own  moral  nature. 
Its  absolute  despotism  is  the  soul’s  sublimest  free- 
dom. This  power,  whose  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God, 
and  under  whose  authority  wpuld  arise  the  harmony 
of  the  universe,  ought  to  have  might  as  it  has 
right — it  ought  to  have  sovereignty  in  its  sway  as 
it  has  elevation  in  its  nature;  then  would  the  blaze 
of  millennial  glory  spontaneously  burst  forth,  con- 
signing to  oblivion  the  moral  ruins  of  the  past. 
Reason  can  prove  a God,  but  only  conscience  can 
see  him,  and  in  this  vision  a principle  becomes 
transformed  into  an  affection — the  principle  of  right 
becomes  identified  with  the  emotion  of  right  and 
endows  it  with  supreme  ascendency.  The  simple 
existence  of  this  faculty  proclaims  a corresponding 
quality  in  actions  and  character.  The  objections  to 
its  universality  prove  the  very  thing  which  is  re- 
jected, It  is  alleged  ^Hhat  conscience  must  be  the 
changing  creature  of  education,  otherwise  acts  di- 
rectly opposite  could  not  be  approved  by  it;  as,  for 
instance,  if  conscience  ,be  a universal  faculty,  the 
conscience  of  the  pagan  parent  could  not  direct  her 
to  murder  her  child,  and  that  of  a Christian  mother 
to  cherish  hers.”  But  is  not  the  fallacy  palpably  in 


214 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


confounding  the  opposite  modes  of  carrying  out  the 
same  design  ? Both  mothers  designing  the  good  of 
their  children,  were  directed  to  it  by  the  same  fac- 
ulty in  opposite  modes.  No  delineation  can  here  be 
attempted  of  the  functions  of  this  faculty.  We 
know  it  acts  prospectively,  introspectively,  and  re- 
trospectively— that  it  searches  the  future,  present, 
and  past  with  an  eye  of  fire — that,  when  guilty,  it 
can  curtain  with  gloom  the  whole  arch  of  heaven — 
when  innocent,  it  can  kindle  morning  light  in  the 
deepest  midnight  dungeon. 

4.  But  in  the  galaxy  of  human  powers  I direct 
attention  to  one  more — the  will — which  is  the  cen- 
tral energy  of  all  the  rest.  This  crowning  power  of 
man  distinguishes  him  from  the  whole  mindless  uni- 
verse. A will  in  him  is  expressive  of  one  in  his 
stupendous  author.  As  without  the  Divine  will 
nothing  had  heen^  so  without  the  human  will  noth- 
ing could  be  done  to  moral  purpose.  In  this  sub- 
lime faculty  resides  the  man,  the  personality,  the 
doer  of  all  that  is  achieved.  Where  this  is  not, 
action  can  not  be,  character  can  not  be,  praise  or 
blame  can  not  be,  and  all  moral  government  were 
an  impossibility.  This  is  the  deep  fountain  of  orig- 
ination, the  only  source  of  what  was  not  the  fiat  at 
which  every  entity  emerged  from  emptiness.  The 
will  is  more  than  the  fulcrum  of  the  soul.  Itself 
can  act  against  the  highest  behests  of  God  and  the 
mightiest  motives  within  Infinite  resources.  The 
will  is  so  related  to  character  as  to  shape  destiny. 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


215 


Without  it  all  other  faculties  would  be  a stupendous 
impertinency.  This  power  has  not  unfitly  been  en- 
titled the  supernatural.  Its  sphere  is  beyond  that 
of  cause  and  effect.  It  is  related  to  all  agencies, 
* but  controlled  by  none.  It  can  act,  but  it  can  not 
be  acted  upon.  It  demands  a condition  for  its  oper- 
ation, but  rejects  all  causes  of  it.  The  intellect 
might  be  clear  as  the  highest  ether,  the  affections 
warm  as  a mother’s  love,  the  fancy  rich  as  the  rain- 
bow’s beauties,  but  without  the  sovereignty  of  the 
will  the  mass  would  be  stagnant,  as  all  other  endow- 
ments would  be  an  utter  waste  of  the  most  precious 
material. 

II.  I now  proceed  to  consider  man  social ^ or 
humanity  in  its  aggregate  aspects. 

The  historian  never  ceases  to  be  haunted  by  the 
analogy  which  makes  a nation  a great  organic  per- 
sonality— an  ideal  embodiment,  endowed  with  indi- 
vidual characteristics.  In  this  aspect  a peoples’ 
soul  is  a great  unit,  composed  of  numberless  in- 
dividual souls — a stupendous  public  mind,  made  up 
of  numberless  single  minds.  This  complex  person, 
embodying  many  consciousnesses  like  the  isolated 
individual,  has  a character,  a responsibility,  and  a 
retribution.  But  these  analogies  fail  when  the  ques- 
tion of  immortality  arises.  Before  the  individual 
soul  a destiny  stretches  out  endless  as  the  eternal 
years  of  ^ God,  while  the  destiny  of  the  national 
soul  pervades  but  a few  ages.  This  has  its  retri- 
bution within  the  circle  of  the  sun,  that  often  the 

19 


216 


LECTURES  ANL  ADDRESSES. 


dead  are  raised  and  the  livi.  ig  are  changed.  When 
we  demand,  Where  is  the  nation  that  has  endured 
the  test  of  its  responsibilities  ? echo  answers,  Where  ? 
Was  it  Babylon,  that  center  of  a great  empire?  It 
has  sunk  like  a millstone  in  the  ocean.  Was  it  * 
Jerusalem,  in  which  God’s  great  Son  sojourned? 
Not  one  stone  is  left  upon  another.  Was  it 

Borne,  the  world’s  mistress?  A thousand  years 
have  wheeled  over  its  great  sepulcher.  Nor  is 
there  a nation  on  the  globe  which  has  not  since 
been  vanquished  by  some  lordly  conqueror.  The 
national  longevity  has  its  exact  measure  in  the 
national  character.  History,  which  is  the  book  of 
judgment,  points  to  the  tomb  of  nations  to  which,  ^ 
as  to  their  gehenna,  their  sins  have  doomed  them. 
While  individual  offenders  survive  forever,  the  night 
of  the  grave  is  the  national  oblivion.  Many  a vir- 
tuous citizen,  guiltless  of  national  offense,  shares  in 
the  public  infliction,  and  is  compensated  at  the  res- 
urrection of  the  just.  Our  organic  national  person- 
ality has  a mind  to  think,  a heart  to  feel,  a will  to 
execute.  If  that  intellect  be  wise,  that  heart  pure, 
and  that  will  strong  for  the  right,  then  will  the 
glad  eureka  peal  through  the  ages,  proclaiming  the 
thrilling  solution  of  the  problem  of  history  in  the 
consummation  of  national  hope. 

To  secure  the  intelligence  of  man  social,  four 
great  agencies  have  been  put  in  requisition  — the 
school,  the  press,  the  post,  and  the  pulpit  The 
three  closely-connected  branches  into  which  the 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


217 


school  should  be  regarded  are,  the  primary,  the 
academic,  and  the  collegiate.  The  plea  for  nature 
in  preference  to  art  ignores  the  fact  that  education 
is  nature  in  her  progressive  advances.  Separate 
the  one  from  the  other,  and  at  what  point  would 
you  sunder  them?  In  the  very  cradle  education 
commences  its  molding  process.  Both  the  mental 
and  social  constitution  make  this  process  utterly 
inseparable  from  existence.  The  real  inquiry,  then, 
is  not  whether  a human  being  shall  be  educated — 
this  he  must  be — but  whether  he  shall  be  improved 
or  perverted  by  his  education.  It  is  either  to  cramp, 
distort,  or  develop  his  powers.  Its  high  aim  is  to 
ascertain  and  employ  the  means  fitted  to  the  ends 
of  life.  That  this  is  best  accomplished  by  com- 
petent instructors,  is  suggested  by  all  the  analogies 
of  nature  and  religion.  It  is  by  a never-changing 
law  of  mind  that  self-improvement  advances  in  exact 
ratio  as  the  means  are  appropriate,  and  as  attention 
is  intense. 

The  exceptions  to  this  are  only  apparent,  not 
real.  When  connected  thought  seems  to  have  the 
spontaneity  of  instinct  to  rush  through  the  mind 
like  lightning  through  the  heavens,  it  is  only  after 
patience  and  depth  of  thought  have  been  the  soul’s 
habit.  No  untrained  mind  can  be  conformed  to 
unperverted  nature.  To  be  without  a correct  edu- 
cation, is  to  be  misguided  by  a perverting  one, 
which  creates  the  demand  for  reconstruction.  It 
is  impossible  to  mistake  the  voice  of  history  which. 


218 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


in  harmony  with  the  science  of  mind,  represents 
the  highest  advance  of  human  powers  as  resulting 
from  the  best  use  of  the  best  educational  instru- 
ments. 

We  institute  no  invidious  comparisons  between 
the  three  educational  institutions.  Commencing 
with  the  primary,  and  advancing  toward  the  uni- 
versity, we  find  each  is  indispensable  to  the  other. 
Who  can  doubt  whether  the  primary  school  alone 
would  dwarf  the  average  intellect?  Do  you  de- 
mand, then,  how  its  alumnus  often  overtowers  him 
of  the  university?  We  answer,  categorically,  be- 
cause he  bathes  more  frequently  than  the  college 
graduate  in  the  bright  atmosphere  made  luminous 
by  that  highest  class  of  institutions.  Childhood, 
refiecting  the  sweet  beams  of  life's  morning,  is  in- 
tensely lovely,  but  comparatively  worthless  if  cut 
off  from  manhood.  Thus  the  connection  is  vital 
between  the  lowest  and  highest  educational  depart- 
ments. The  one  is  a prerequisite  to  the  other,  but 
can  never  be  its  substitute.  The  same  wisdom  that 
builds  the  school-house  will  advance  to  erect  the 
college,  as  it  well  knows  that  common  intelligence 
could  not  long  survive  the  absence  of  higher  learn- 
ing. This  conclusion  is  sustained  by  the  verdict  of 
man.  As  no  civilized  portion  of  the  race,  ancient 
or  modern,  has  restricted  itself  to  a single  grade  of 
institutions,  how  can  a democracy  do  it?  It  must 
have  brain  to  surmise  and  the  school  to  exercise 
that  organ. 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


219 


By  what,  language  shall  we  portray  that  wisdom 
which  has  bidden  us  to  burn  our  libraries,  break 
down  our  presses,  demolish  our  school-houses,  stop 
our  post,  and  arrest  the  lightning  of  heaven  on 
whose  wings  we  send  our  messages  ? Such  as 
would  send  us  back  to  the  unmingled  light  of 
nature,  and  to  the  sweet  simplicity  of  barbarism, 
have  yet  to  learn  the  first  principles  of  life’s  lofty 
aim:  they  have  to  vanquish  that  self-delusion  which 
facts  and  principles  can  put  to  flight;  they  have  to 
learn  that  three-fourths  of  all  our  criminals  are 
from  the  one-fourth  of  the  least  educated;  that 
when,  under  stringent  law,  more  crimes  are  pun- 
ished, it  is  not  because  more  crimes  are  committed, 
but  because  more  are  detected.  A thousand  facts 
conspire  to  assure  us  that  truth  is  the  appointed 
instrument  of  social  elevation;  that  knowledge  is 
the  native  element  in  which  truth  flourishes;  and 
that  instruction  is  the  ethereal  element  on  which  it 
thrives. 

Another  agency  with  which  man-republiG  can  not 
afford  to  part  is  the  pulpit.  The  fact  that  this 
agency  borders  on  the  supernatural  argues  not  its 
slightest  unfitness  to  social  purposes.  If  it  be  God’s 
great  instrumentality,  it  is  man’s  supreme  conserva- 
tor. It  shall  stand  while  the  world  endures.  What 
is  its  message  but  the  great  redemption?  what  its 
mission  but  the  regeneration  of  the  race?  Who  is 
its  incumbent  but  God’s  anointed  herald?  but  Jeho- 
vah’s own  mouthpiece?  It  encounters  stupendous 


220 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


antagonisms  embodied  in  the  vices  of  centurieS;  and 
in  the  ravings  of  the  pit.  Its  range  is  through  all 
the  ages  of  time  and  all  the  nations  of  the  race. 
Its  lesson  is  man's  immortality,  its  work  his  prepar- 
ation for  the  grave.  Its  history  will  disclose  a scene 
of  subjective  wonders  defiant  of  a parallel — one  that 
shall  awaken  both  songs  and  shrieks.  Of  man  so- 
cial the  pulpit  is  the  abiding  friend;  it  vindicates 
his  inherent  rights;  it  enjoins  his  public  duties;  it 
moves  him  to  the  vigorous  achievement  of  them. 
Let  it  then  sink  deep  into  our  convictions  that  the 
pulpit  should  appropriate  the  philosophy,  the  civil- 
ization, and  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  herself  be- 
come the  public  conscience. 

At  the  bidding  of  no  prince  or  people  can  its 
voice  sink  to  silence.  No  matter  by  what  lips  it  is 
uttered,  that  voice  is  portentous  which  proclaims 
religion  has  no  concern  with  politics.  This  is  ever 
a premonition  that  villainy  is  on  foot.  Who  is 
thus  at  war  with  conscience  can  advance  but  one 
more  daring  step,  and  say  to  the  Omniscient  eye, 
shuty  Great  wrongs  can  not  be  subverted,  and 
great  rights  vindicated,  but  by  the  pulpit.  This 
must  be  the  impersonation  of  the  world  s conscience. 

To  man  social  the  agency  of  the  peess  is  next  in 
power  to  that  of  the  pulpit.  It  has  in  four  centu- 
ries filled  more  libraries  with  the  world’s  standard 
intellectual  wealth  than  all  the  millionaires  of  man’s 
previous  history  had  done.  The  library  is  the  con- 
tents of  the  world’s  knowledge ; the  prodigious 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


221 


memory  of  the  race.  This,  like  the  coral  island,  is 
ever  expanding.  The  press  swells  the  stupendous 
pile  by  depositing  in  it  such  mental  gems  as  oblivion 
had  previously  engulfed.  To  that  mighty  devourer 
the  press  efficaciously  says,  Thus  far  and  no  fur- 
ther.’' The  press  is  yet  to  gather  much  from  the 
ravages  of  the  past  — much  that  is  rich  in  ancient 
lands,  the  offspring  of  departed  generations,  and  de- 
posit it  here.  In  another  sphere  this  great  agency 
sends  out  its  living  swarms;  some  honey-bearing, 
some  venomous — all  born  to  die.  But  these  in  their 
flight,  from  the  daily  to  the  quarterly,  glitter  with 
intelligence  which  reaches  the  meanest  cottage. 
Through  them  oratory  utters  its  sparkling  words, 
poetry  weaves  its  magic  spells,  romance  fabricates 
its  ideal  realms,  history  records  its  deep  lessons. 
Nor  do  they  fail  to  exhibit  the  four  symbols  of  nat- 
ural science — the  telescope,  the  crucible,  the  dia- 
gram, and  the  pickax.  This  influence,  transient  as 
it  seems,  has  an  aggregate  result  in  swelling  the 
precious  material  in  thought's  immortal  repository. 

But  while  the  press  is  the  great  conservator  of 
thought,  the  post  is  its  sleepless  propagator.  While 
that  preserves  books  which  sweep  the  whole  horizon 
of  learning — books  which  are  the  great  voices  of 
time  — this  propagates  the  living  echoes  of  those 
voices.  While  the  mail  does  this  through  the  daily, 
weekly,  monthly,  and  quarterly,  so  as  to  permeate 
the  whole  public  organism,  the  net-work  of  the  elec- 
tric wires  has  woven  its  lightning  texture  over  con- 


222 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


tinents,  sending  the  same  thought  in  a single  hour 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  thrilling  at  once  every  fiber  of 
the  great  public  heart. 

Finally,  we  can  only  glance  at  man  national  in 
regard  to  his  authority  and  corresponding  duty. 
Wielding  as  does  this  nation  these  elevating  agen- 
cies, how  lofty  must  be  its  responsibility ! The  very 
structure  of  the  individual's  mind  proves  self-eleva- 
tion to  be  its  Creator’s  purpose.  That  self-control 
is  a nation’s  duty  is  equally  clear  from  the  social 
constitution.  The  powers  of  every  legitimate  gov- 
ernment are  ordained  of  God.  Though  the  Bible 
no  where  prescribes  the  decisive  test  of  what  legiti- 
mately constitutes  these  ordained  powers,  wherever 
such  government  exists  it  demands  implicit  obe- 
dience to  it  as  to  God’s  requirement.  Kebellion 
against  it  is,  therefore,  political  and  moral  treason. 
The  individual’s  rights  are  protected  and  his  dis- 
putes arbitrated  by  the  magistrate.  But  the  nation 
being  without  such  a guardianship  must  be  self-pro- 
tective. By  its  governmental  power  it  must  secure 
domestic  order  and  international  justice.  The  sword 
of  the  magistrate  must  maintain  the  one,  and  the 
sword  of  the  warrior  the  other.  The  governmental 
army  sustains  the  same  relation  to  a revolutionary 
province  and  to  a foreign  aggression  as  the  execu- 
tive magistracy  to  the  individual  offenders.  While 
the  sword  of  either  should  never  be  unsheathed  only 
at  the  call  of  justice,  it  should  never  return  to  its 
scabbard  till  rebellion  be  crushed.  The  duty  of  this 


MAN  INDIVIDUAL — MAN  SOCIAL. 


223 


is  commensurate  with  the  crime  of  rebellion.  The 
duty  of  lawful  self-protection,  under  the  Divine 
civil  institution,  is  invested  with  the  same  authority 
as  every  other  Divine  claim.  The  failure  of  govern- 
ment to  employ  every  energy  to  its  utmost  extent, 
to  accomplish  this,  is  not  merely  despicable  in  the 
eye  of  history,  but  guilty  before  high  heaven.  We 
can  not  ignore  the  application  of  this  principle  to 
the  terrific  outbreak  in  this  Depublic.  What  a page 
shall  be  written  in  the  history  of  this  century  when 
the  historian  shall  record  the  secret  plots  of  the 
slave-power  against  the  noblest  Government  on 
which  the  sun  has  shone.  Advancing  in  its  daring 
rapacity,  its  demands  became  more  haughty  till  the 
long- controlled  Government  broke  from  its  grasp. 
In  that  hour  its  plans  of  treason  burst  into  execu- 
tion to  shatter  the  Union  and  rend  the  Constitution. 
That  agency,  wielding  the  great  powers  of  govern- 
ment, made  it  subservient  to  that  stupendous  crime. 
Not  for  one  moment  can  we  doubt  whether  this  be 
a revolt  against  the  Divine  scheme  for  the  world’s 
advance  in  Christian  civilization  — whether  it  be 
both  an  impious  defiance  against  God’s  providence, 
and  a huge  crime  against  universal  humanity.  Is 
it  not  as  utterly  void  of  moral  justification  as  of 
constitutional  validity?  Is  it  not  the  solemn  duty 
of  this  Christian  Government  to  blot  out  from  under 
these  heavens  an  institution  which  thirsts  for  frater- 
nal blood,  and  pants  to  quench  the  highest  hopes  of 
humanity  — an  institution  which  can  not  survive 


224 


LEGTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


another  age  without  rekindling  the  dreadful  flame 
of  civil  war,  and  mantling  these  bright  realms  with 
its  midnight  horrors? 

And  now,  young  gentlemen,  allow  me  to  commend 
to  you  those  high  attainments  which  will  harmonize 
your  own  great  forces  with  themselves,  with  society, 
and  with  the  universe.  Then  will  you  decline  no 
duty,  shrink  from  no  responsibility,  withhold  no 
sacrifice,  be  allured  by  no  flattery,  and  deterred  by 
no  obstacle.  The  beautiful,  the  true,  and  the  good, 
blending  in  a higher  than  Platonic  luster,  shall  be 
the  Christian  trio,  each  preventing  the  distortion  of 
the  other,  and  all  blending  in  symmetrical  character. 
Then  will  an  iron  vigor  of  purpose,  a divine  sweet- 
ness of  heart,  an  immaculate  purity  of  conscience 
secure  the  highest  ends  of  both  lives,  and  rapidly 
mature  those  germinant  virtues  which  will  prove 
the  Christian  to  be  the  highest  style  of  man. 


X. 


ON  THE  USE  AND  IMPORTANCE  OF  MENTAL 
CULTURE: 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  STUDENTS  OF  THE  GARRETT 
BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Young  Gentlemen, — I owe  it  to  you  to  be  un- 
disguised in  the  few  utterances  I shall  make  on 
your  mental  culture.  You  will  not  expect  me  to 
entertain  you  with  glowing  pictures  of  the  ethe- 
real powers  you  have  inherited,”  or  ^^of  the  peerless 
hights  to  which  they  may  raise  you,”  or  of  the 
grandeur  of  those  achievements  by  which  you  may 
exceed  all  priority.  For  less  amusing  and  more 
substantial  purposes  I engage  in  this  brief  discus- 
sion. My  aim  will  be  to  glance  at  the  method  and 
importance  of  self-knowledge ^ especially  in  the  in- 
tellectual sphere, 

^^Know  thyself”  was  a comprehensive  precept  of 
ancient  wisdom;  it  has  been  virtually  inculcated  by 
both  Eastern  and  Western  philosophy — by  profane 
and  sacred  instruction.  The  most  highly  gifted  and 
cultivated  of  the  race  have  regarded  the  human 

mind  the  measure  of  all  things  lying  within  the 

225 


226 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


human  sphere.  An  acquaintance  with  that,  there- 
fore, is  indispensable  to  a knowledge  of  these.  But 
a correct  acquaintance  with  himself  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  course  would  be  no  less  difficult  to  the 
student  than  it  would  be  important  to  his  success. 
As  this  comprehensive,  accurate  self-knowledge  is 
never  inherited,  but  is  ever  attainable,  the  student 
begins  by  either  underrating  or  overrating  himself. 

Some  of  the  results  with  which  an  overestimate 
is  pregnant  are  indocilityj  generated  by  this  too 
favorable  self-estimate — the  concealment  of  defects — 
consequent  relaxation  of  efforts  to  advance — felt  in- 
dignation at  the  exposure  of  defects.  In  this  state 
failure  ensues ; disappointment  laughs  at  hope’s 
career,”  as  the  student  attempted  what  was  be- 
yond his  ability.  Nor  is  intellectual  advancement 
less  certainly  impeded  by  the  opposite  extreme.  It 
will  be  a bar  to  those  attempts  at  the  practicable 
which  are  indispensable  to  the  march  of  intellect; 
it  will  prevent  that  vigor  of  purpose  which  is  pro- 
moted by  the  confidence  that  difficulties  lessen 
as  we  approach  them,  and  vanish  when  we  reso- 
lutely assail  them.  These  erring  judgments  are  in- 
evitable till  corrected  by  comparison  with  a true 
standard,  and  such  a comparison  is  a work  of  time 
and  caution,  and  derives  importance  from  its  rela- 
tion to  self-discipline,  and  to  preparation  for  future 
engagements.  There  is  one  necessity  devolving  on 
the  student,  beyond  the  mere  inception  of  his  course, 
indispensable  to  his  ultimate  success;  it  is  the  selec- 


MENTAL  CULTURE. 


227 


tion  of  the  literary  and  scientific  objects  of  his 
pursuit.  The  narrowness  of  human  powers,  and 
the  brevity  of  their  assigned  period  for  improve- 
ment, demand  this.  This  selection  is  wisely  made 
when  it  looks,  primarily,  to  the  invigorating  of  the 
faculties;  and,  secondarily,  to  future  engagements. 
Thus  the  basis  of  the  superstructure  will  be  formed 
of  the  right  material,  and  will  be  broad  and  per- 
manent; not  that  this  strenuous  training  of  the 
faculties  can  be  utterly  apart  from  the  acquirement 
of  thought  with  which  they  are  ultimately  to  be 
replenished. 

That,  however,  is  to  be  the  prominent  aim,  and 
this  the  incidental  result.  Because  the  tie  by  which 
the  one  is  drawn  after  the  other  is  occult,  it  is  not 
unreal;  the  mightiest  forces  in  nature  are  buried 
in  concealment,  and  operate  unseen.  When  w^ere 
vigor  of  purpose,  accuracy  of  discrimination,  and 
conclusiveness  of  reasoning  not  preceded  by  thor- 
oughly elaborating  discipline?  Those  no  less  di- 
rectly look  back  to  this  than  this  looked  forward 
to  those.  The  indirectness  of  the  bearings  of  this 
discipline  on  a future  profession  can  be  no  disproof 
of  its  importance.  Metaphysics  and  the  exact  sci- 
ences may  seem  to  be  as  little  related  to  either  of 
the  learned  professions  as  the  romping  of  childhood 
and  the  sports  of  youth  are  to  a robust  manhood; 
but  the  distance  of  time  at  which  these  rise  up  into 
full  effect,  can  never  minify  their  importance  or 
sunder  their  causal  relations.  As  soon  may  you 


228 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


disrupt  the  chain  of  nature  as  prevent  the  rich- 
ness of  the  remuneration  being  proportionate  to  the 
thoroughness  of  the  discipline. 

What,  then,  are  some  of  the  means  of  attaining 
this  discipline  ? One  of  these  with  which  we  can 
never  dispense  is  unremitting  attention.  Attention 
is  the  power  by  which  one  steadily  follows  out  the 
same  train  of  thought.  Its  strength  is  measured 
by  the  extent  to  which  this  is  continued.  This 
intellectual  effort,  which  is  painful  at  the  outset, 
becomes  facile  by  continuance.  When  the  will  by 
an  arduous  exertion  first  attempts  undivided  appli- 
cation, the  mind  is  continually  perplexed  by  the 
glimmer  of  intrusive  and  distracting  thoughts, 
which  precludes  the  desired  object  from  being 
placed  in  the  full  clearness  of  undivided  light. 
This  occurs  only  when  the  new  object  becomes 
fused  into  an  integral  part  of  the  system  of  our 
previous  knowledge,  and  of  our  established  asso- 
ciations of  thoughts  and  desires. 

This  involves  habit,  whose  incipiency  is  by  com- 
pulsion, but  whose  every  successive  step  is  taken 
with  greater  ease.  Thus  the  whole  system  of 
thought  harmonizes  with  our  pursuit,  and  the 
whole  mind  lives  only  in  the  trains  of  thought 
to  which  it  has  devoted  its  energies.  Then  that 
pleasure  which  is  the  reflex  of  unforced  and  un- 
impeded energy  attends  the  most  vigorous  thought. 
In  this  state  the  mind  stamps  excellencies  on  all 
its  processes.  The  most  complicated  demonstrations 


MENTAL  CULTURE. 


229 


made  by  the  master  minds  of  La  Place  and  La 
Grange  are  all  made  up  of  immediate  inferences, 
the  first  of  which  may  be  grasped  by  the  feeblest 
intellect.  No  greater  exertion  of  the  intellect  is 
requisite  to  make  a thousand  such  efforts  than  to 
make  one. 

The  Newtonian  mind  can  connect  inferences 
through  the  whole  series  to  the  determinate  end; 
the  common  mind  makes  the  successive  inferences, 
but  soon  falters  and  lets  fall  the  thread  in  the  be- 
ginning or  midway  of  the  series.  It  was  to  this 
patient  attention  that  Sir  Isaac  referred  his  discov- 
eries. If  Plato's  account  of  Socrates  be  reliable, 
this  father  of  Greek  philosophy  was  peerless  in  the 
power  of  attention.  ^^This  philosopher  was  seen  by 
the  Athenian  army  to  stand  for  a whole  day  and 
night,  till  the  break  of  the  second  morning,  mo- 
tionless, and  with  a fixed  gaze,  showing  that  he 
was  uninterruptedly  engrossed  with  the  considera- 
tion of  a single  subject;"  and  it  is  added  that 
^Uhus  Socrates  was  wont  to  do  when  his  mind  was 
occupied  with  inquiries  in  which  there  were  diffi- 
culties to  be  overcome."  ^^He  would  then  forget 
to  eat,  and  drink,  and  sleep  ....  till  he 
had  seen  some  light  on  the  subject."  Whatever 
exaggeration  there  may  be  in  this  narrative,  there 
is  truth  in  the  principle,  Descartes,  like  Newton, 
arrogated  nothing  ^Go  the  superiority  of  his  intel- 
lect, but  attributed  all  in  which  he  excelled  to  the 
superiority  of  his  method." 


230 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


With  great  force  Helvetius  has  defined  genius  as 
being  the  power  of  continued  attention;  and  in 
this  the  most  eminent  authorities  accord.  Thus, 
self-abstraction  from  the  inversion  of  surrounding 
objects  is  the  condition  of  mental  power.  This  fac- 
ulty has  been  manifest  in  all  whose  names  have 
been  associated  with  the  progress  of  intellectual 
science.  Hamilton  quotes  more  than  a half  a dozen 
who  in  this  power  of  abstract  attention  were  little 
less  distinguished  than  Socrates.  It  is  fitly  said 
that  ^Hhe  Attention  of  the  intellect  is  a natural 
prayer  by  which  vre  obtain  the  enlightenment  of 
reason.” 

But  this  power  of  fastening  attention  on  a chosen 
train  of  thought  is  weak  just  as  the  pupil  tolerates 
in  himself  the  habit  of  languor  or  of  intermitted 
application.  This  makes  the  effort  of  persistent  at- 
tention more  difficult  to-morrow  than  to-day.  The 
labor  of  acquiring  this  habit  is  painful  as  external 
circumstances  are  unpropitious ; it  is  facile  as  in- 
ward tranquillity  and  surrounding  silence  are  deep. 
Let  the  student,  therefore,  exclude  disturbing  causes 
till  he  has  acquired  the  command  of  his  attention, 
and  then  let  him  resolutely  brave  such  causes. 
This  mastery  of  attention  will  enable  you  to  ob- 
serve another  rule  in  this  progressive  discipline.  I 
allude  to  the  thoroughness  of  investigation.  To 
abandon  a subject  till  clear  and  precise  ideas  on  it 
are  acquired,  is  fatally  to  obstruct  the  course  of 
discipline.  What  can  be  more  fatal  to  all  progress 


MENTAL  CULTUEE. 


231 


than  to  assume  one  knows  that  of  which  he  is  only 
beginning  to  perceive  his  ignorance?  What  can  be 
more  indispensable  to  discipline  than  clearness  of 
perception  of  that  which  in  itself  is  clear?  By  this 
alone  can  a complex  subject  be  so  disentangled  that 
by  the  analytic  process  each  part  can  be  taken 
from  the  others  and  laid  in  its  own  place,  till  all 
are  considered  seriatim  — then  will  the  maxim  be 
found  just,  Divide  and  conquer.”  By  dismiss- 
ing a subject  without  having  fully  scanned  it,  the 
student  not  merely  remains  ignorant  of  what  he 
had  attempted  to  learn,  but  has  strengthened  his 
tendency  to  rest  in  vague  conceptions  of  all  other 
subjects.  ^ 

Another  canon  kindred  to  this  is  peecision  of 
TEEMS.  All  in  the  least  habituated  to  investiga- 
tion must  be  aware  that  the  processes  of  thought 
are  by  the  employment  of  language.  Though 
thought  may  commence  without  terms,  it  can  not 
proceed  without  them.  The  looseness  of  language, 
therefore,  involves  the  vagueness  of  thought.  To 
suppose  one  understands  a subject  because  he  is  fa- 
miliar with  some  general  terms  in  which  it  is  often 
stated — though  he  has  never  attached  one  definite 
idea  to  those  terms — is  a most  common  and  fatal 
delusion.  Loose  language  may  conceal  profound 
ignorance,  but  can  do  nothing  toward  dissipating 
that  ignorance.  We  may  ever  be  sure  of  the  exact 
correspondence  between  the  character  of  language 

and  the  character  of  thought.  To  achieve,  there- 

20 


232 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


fore,  the  mastery  of  this  great  instrument  of 
thought,  deserves  the  student’s  highest  aspiration. 
Words  are  plenty  enough,  and  often  flow  most 
readily  from  the  shallowest  brain.  We  speak, 
therefore,  not  of  the  number  of  words,  nor  of  the 
fluency  in  uttering  them,  but  of  their  exact  fit- 
ness— words  that  express  not  too  much  or  too 
little — words  which  could  give  place  to  no  others 
without  the  loss  of  precision — words  that  in  the 
same  connection  have  no  exact  synonyms.  ' 

While  the  study  of  philosophy  is  the  discipline 
of  the  intellect,  the  study  of  philology  is  the  indis- 
pensable preparative.  Thus,  in  translating  thought 
from  one  language  into  another,  the  mind  learns  to 
detect  the  exact  import  of  the  two  classes  of  corre- 
sponding terms;  so  that  no  branch  of  study  con- 
tributes so  directly  to  the  wealth  and  precision  of 
style  as  translating  the  classics. 

Nor  is  the  habit  of  accurately  discriminating  be- 
tween true  and  false  reasoning  unimportant  to 
mental  discipline.  The  three  directions  just  given 
are  indispensable  preparatives  to  the  facile  observ- 
ance of  this  canon.  The  unremitting  attention  to 
a train  of  thought  till  its  utmost  contents  are  ap- 
prehended— the  precision  of  thought  which  secures 
a sifting  analysis,  and  the  exactness  of  language 
corresponding  to  such  thought,  prepare  the  mind 
for  a rigid  logic.  It  requires  not  the  profoundest 
art  to  so  commingle  the  sound  with  the  fallacious, 
as  to  conceal  the  sophistry  from  the  unpracticed 


MENTAL  CULTURE. 


233 


eye.  While  the  analytic  habit  of  the  student’s 
mind  is  his  security  against  the  sophist,  it  is  his 
only  indemnity  against  the  errors  of  his  own  con- 
clusions. Nor  could  he  long  indulge  in  inventing 
plausible  arguments  for  the  support  of  error,  with- 
out so  warping  his  own  faculties  as  to  connect 
doubt  with  all  truth.  This  self-perversion  is  the 
penalty  of  voluntary  misapplication.  It  issues  not 
in  mental  discipline,  but  in  mental  unhingement. 
Of  this  many  of  the  acute  disputants  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  are  painful  illustrations.  But  by 
cultivating  the  discriminating  faculty  the  earnest 
student  will  judge  of  arguments  not  by  their  num- 
ber, but  by  their  weight — he  will  yield  his  convic- 
tions to  them  not  as  they  are  plausible,  but  as  their 
steps  are  consecutive — as  every  link  is  seen  to  draw 
after  it  the  other  in  the  chain. 

It  is  no  less  palpable  that  the  false  element  in 
argument  cancels  the  true,  than  that  the  negative 
quantity  in  the  solution  of  an  algebraic  problem 
cancels,  to  its  own  full  amount,  the  positive.  The 
habit  of  thorough  investigation  can  alone  enable 
you  to  avoid  this  error  and  detect  it  in  others. 

The  primary  signification  of  the  word  investi- 
gate— to  follow  an  object  by  the  traces  it  has  left 
in  its  road  to  its  unknown  place  — this  primary 
meaning  is  expressive  of  the  caution  and  persist- 
ency demanded  for  success.  The  point  at  which 
one  starts  is  known  — the  point  he  would  reach  is 
unknown.  The  distance  dividing  them  can  be  free 


234 


LEGXaEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


from  peril  only  as  it  is  traversed  by  the  rule  of 
logical  cause  and  consequence.  Any  departure  from 
this  rule  would  sunder  the  everlasting  connection 
of  thought.  If  you  supply  by  mere  conjecture  a 
single  link  in  this  eternal  chain,  you  thereby  blend 
uncertainty  with  every  possible  conclusion,  no  mat- 
ter how  rem6te  from  your  conclusion  or  how  prox- 
imate to  it  your  premises  may  lie.  It  would  be  a 
grievous  delusion  to  suppose  that  the  habit  of  dart- 
ing the  mind’s  eye  along  every  link  of  the  argu- 
mentative chain  is  required  only  by  mathematics  or 
metaphysics;  there  is  no  department  of  knowledge 
by  which  it  is  not  demanded. 

On  all  possible  subjects  thoughts  are  related.  To 
make  one  thought  solitary  or  isolated,  would  require 
the  change  of  every  mental  law.  Such  thought, 
therefore,  belongs  not  to  a single  mind  in  the  uni- 
verse. These  connections  of  thought  are,  therefore, 
not  to  be  originated^  but  are  to  be  discovered  by 
you.  This  is  not  the  beautiful  creation  of  genius, 
but  existed  prior  to  created  mind.  Though  the 
connections  of  thought  lie  often  below  the  surface, 
they  are  never  out  of  the  subject.  The  ready  per- 
ception of  these  relations  is  essential  to  the  power 
of  high  and  rapid  generalization.  Among  the  ad- 
vantages of  this  mental  habit  is  that  of  meek  but 
manly  independence.  Then  the  judgment  is  swayed 
not  by  authority,  but  by  evidence;  not  by  opinion, 
but  by  conviction.  Then  that  is  embraced  as  truth, 
not  because  its  votaries  are  numerous  or  its  advo- 


MENTAL  CULTURE. 


235 


cates  are  powerful,  but  because  its  evidence  is  in- 
vincible. In  prosecuting  this  course  of  discipline, 
the  question  has  doubtless  pressed  itself  upon  you, 
^^What  is  the  point  beyond  which  you  should  appeal 
for  aid  to  minds  of  higher  culture  than  your  own?” 
The  point  at  which  you  should  go  out  of  yourself 
for  help  is  not  where  you  first  meet  with  difficulty, 
but  where  you  find  that  difficulty  insurmountable. 
Where  your  utmost  exertions  are  inadequate  to 
reach  an  unattained  hight,  there  help  is  appro- 
priate. The  system  under  which  we  exist  has  so 
related  society  that  those  of  larger  experience  shed 
their  superior  light  on  the  younger,  and  those  of 
higher  development  vanquish  the  ignorance  of  the 
untaught.  All  our  educational  institutions  recog- 
nize the  principle  of  instruction  to  whose  applica- 
tion to  man  God  himself  has  condescended.  Indo- 
lence alone  will  rely  on  that  assistance  which  super- 
sedes one’s  own  exertion.  This  is  both  degrading 
and  enfeebling,  and  will  place  its  subject  at  a hope- 
less distance  from  scholarship.  In  concluding  this 
discussion,  I will  merely  recall  to  your  attention  its 
subordinate  topics. 

The  first  requisition  made  by  mental  discipline  is 
self-knowledge.  Though  self  is  the  nearest  of  ob- 
jects to  us,  it  is  the  last  to  command  attention. 
Still,  this  subjective  acquaintance  is  indispensable  to 
the  right  adjustment  of  the  mind  to  the  objective 
sphere.  When  one  has  thus  measured  himself, 
fathoming  his  own  powers,  he  must  concentrate 


236 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


them,  pouring  the  whole  stream  of  thought  on  the 
object  he  investigates.  The  facility  with  which  this 
undivided  attention  is  commanded  will  be  gradu- 
ated by  the  vigor  of  purpose  to  attain  it,  and  the 
extent  to  which  it  is  attained  will  be  the  measure 
of  that  precision  of  thought  with  which  the  mental 
processes  will  proceed,  and  those  heterogeneous  ele- 
ments will  be  excluded  which  will  otherwise  vitiate 
the  highest  attempts  at  generalization. 

Kindred  to  this  precision  of  thought  is  accuracy 
of  language.  Such  is  their  relation  that  each 
alternately  depends  on  the  other.  As  language 
is  chiefly  the  instrument  of  thought,  the  accuracy 
of  one  will  measure  the  precision  of  the  other. 
These  distinctives  having  become  the  habits  of  the 
student,  he  will  readily  determine  at  what  point  he 
should  seek  aid  from  minds  of  higher  development; 
that,  so  far  as  instruction  supersedes  his  own  labor, 
it  is  an  obstacle  and  not  a facility  to  his  progress. 
The  bestowment  of  the  richest  blessings  of  heaven 
and  earth  is  suspended  on  labor,  and  the  mind  is 
constructed  to  obtain  its  best  treasure — discipline — 
on  the  same  principle,  by  the  dint  of  labor. 


XI. 


A CHARGE  TO  REV.  DR.  FOSTER: 

DELIVERED  AT  HIS  INAUGURATION  AS  PRESIDENT  OP 
THE  NORTH-WESTERN  UNIVERSITY. 


Reverend  Brother, — May  I be  permitted,  in 
the  name  of  the  Trustees,  to  communicate  to  you 
their  conceptions  of  your  duties  arising  from  the 
relations  you  have  just  assumed  to  the  University? 

This  charge  upon  which  you  have  now  entered  is 
a most  solemn  trust;  the  magnitude  of  the  duties 
it  imposes  on  you  is  commensurate  with  your  utmost 
capability.  You  know  that  no  science  has  been  more 
deeply  studied  than  education.  To  educate  is  to  un- 
fold the  principle  of  thought  which  is  forever  after 
to  be  self-propagative.  It  is  to  discipline  the  will — 
that  executive  force,  that  central  principle  of  char- 
acter; it  is  to  elicit  and  direct  the  social  and  moral 
sensibilities  of  man’s  spiritual  nature.  The  assiduity 
and  skill  demanded  for  success  can  be  appreciated 
only  in  the  light  of  this  great  fact,  that  your  agency 
is  only  one  element  of  a hundred  which  acts  a part 
in  the  pupil’s  education.  In  spite  of  the  best 
scholastic  system  for  mental  discipline,  spontaneous 


238 


LECTUEES  AKI)  ADDRESSES. 


development  will  predominate.  Your  voice  is  only 
one  of  many  wliicli  address  him ; your  most  striking 
thoughts  can  not  directly  monopolize  his  attention. 
Not  only  are  domestic  government,  State  legisla- 
tion, early  associates  the  young  man’s  educators, 
but  every  physical  feature  of  the  place  he  inhab- 
its, every  step  in  the  processes  of  voiceless  nature 
around  him,  every  inward  association  and  outward 
correspondence,  are  his  educators. 

These  numberless  agents  of  measureless  power 
you  can  not  neutralize^  but  you  can  subsidize.  They 
may  be  permeated  by  the  scholar’s  spirit  and  laid 
under  large  contribution  to  his  single  aim.  He 
may,  like  the  chemist,  bring  into  harmonious  rela- 
tions the  heterogeneous  substances  of  nature,  and 
make  the  conflicting  influences  of  life’s  experiences 
strongly  combine  to  advance  scholastic  discipline. 
In  so  reconstructing  the  student’s  mental  habit  that 
he  may  seize  on  the  general  in  the  particular — that 
he  may  judge  of  individual  influences  in  the  broader 
light  of  consecutive  thought,  you  remove  from  him 
a mental  perversity  which  would  be  a wall  of  ada- 
mant to  his  progress,  and  secure  to  yourself  a di- 
recting power  over  him  which  shall  influence  all  his 
other  influences.  It  is  in  this  indirect  manner  only 
that  the  teacher  can  transfer  himself  to  his  pupil 
without,  to  the  slightest  extent,  impairing  his  pupil’s 
identity, 

I know  that  you  can  not  be  more  fully  aware 
than  you  are  that  the  subject  on  which  you  are  to 


A CHAEGE  TO  EEV.  DE.  FOSTEE. 


239 


act  is  an  agent — that  it  is  mind,  not  nature — spirit, 
not  matter.  That  you  are,  therefore,  to  govern  it, 
not  as  God  does  the  globes  of  the  universe,  but  as  he 
does  his  worshipers  that  people  them.  Still  with 
this  distinction,  clear  as  light,  between  force  and 
motives,  how  rarely  does  it  suggest  the  most  effi- 
cient class  of  motives ! There  is  not  in  the  universe 
a single  agent  invested  with  self-directing  power; 
and,  no  matter  how  weak,  he  spurns  with  all  the 
self-importance  of  Hampden  the  tyranny  which  re- 
fuses to  recognize  it.  The  educator  who  employs 
authority  instead  of  allurement,  who  can  not  govern 
mind  by  making  it  feel  that  it  governs  itself,  throws 
his  charge  on  the  defensive,  and  creates  a resist- 
ance which  would  be  unmatched  by  a thousand 
times  his  power.  But  control  of  mind  loses  none 
of  its  importance  by  the  necessity  of  its  mdirect- 
ness.  This  increases  the  demand  on  the  skill  of  the 
operator. 

The  responsibility  of  your  position  has  its  meas- 
ure in  the  minds  you  shall  skillfully  form,  and  in 
all  the  ages  they  shall  improvingly  influence.  The 
few  thousands  who  are  personally  to  feel  your 
agency  make  not  the  circumference  of  that  agency. 
It  will,, stream,  like  morning  light,  along  every  tie 
of  society  and  every  ligament  that  shall  bind  ages 
together.  Till  the  numbers  shall  be  computed  which 
shall  be  influenced  by  those  on  whom  you  act — till 
the  centuries  shall  be  counted  which  are  within  the 

grasp  of  man’s  history,  the  aggregate  of  your  agency 

21 


240  LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

can  not  be  measured.  Indeed,  the  importance  of  an 
agent’s  position  must  be  measured  rather  by  the 
kind  and  degree  of  his  influence  than  by  the  extent 
of  surface  it  pervades.  Great  thoughts,  like  great 
thinkers,  are  cogent  as  they  are  rare.  They  can 
never  sleep  or  stagnate.  Unlike  other  forces  their 
intensity  accumulates  as  their  surface  expands.  One 
great  idea  which  you  shall  lodge  in  some  prolific 
mind  may  work  on  and  on  till  it  shall  sweep  aside 
whole  systems  of  error,  and  give  character  to  the 
age.  In  tracing  the  history  of  such  thoughts  we 
find  their  birthplace  at  the  highest  seats  of  learn- 
ing. There  are  grouped  in  bright  clusters  disci- 
plined minds,  whose  action  on  each  other  is  with 
a cogency  transcending  the  power  of  all  visible 
agencies. 

May  I also  remind  you  that  your  present  post 
derives  special  importance  from  its  central  position. 
Here  you  are  in  the  midst  of  these  ocean-like  prai- 
ries, whose  boundless  bloom  predicts  and  symbolizes 
their  social  greatness.  No  earthly  agency  can  pre- 
vent their  becoming  the  crowded  residence  of  wealth, 
intelligence,  and  refinement,  where  society  will  de- 
velop itself  in  its  highest  style — in  its  noblest  type — - 
where  the  representatives  of  twenty  distant  nations, 
melted  and  molded  by  American  mind  into  one 
homogeneous  community,  will  be  susceptible  of 
higher  polish  than  ever  adorned  the  paragons  of 
Greece.  Here,  then,  you  need  not  wait  for  a dis- 
tant generation  to  create  a demand  for  a high  order 


A CHARGE  TO  REV.  DR.  FOSTER. 


241 


of  educators.  Such  a demand  is  the  offspring  of 
that  opulence  and  leisure  which  will  soon  be  com- 
manded by  large  classes  in  this  great  mysterious 
West.  Much  that  has  been  the  growth  of  a thou- 
sand years  in  the  Old  World,  will,  in  the  midst  of 
this  dramatic  scene,  be  the  product  of  a single  age. 
Though  we  look  not  for  the  infant  to  reach  manhood 
in  a day,  or  Nature  to  become  breathless  in  her 
efforts  to  keep  up  with  man,  we  do  look  for  social 
developments  peerless  in  their  rapidity  as  they  are 
vast  in  their  scale.  An  age  that  can  transport  our 
persons  five  hundred  miles  in  a day,  and  our 
thoughts  over  the  globe  swifter  than  the  sound  of 
the  angels  trumpet  can  traverse  it  — such  an  age 
looks  back  in  vain  for  a parallel  in  the  past,  and 
forward  with  confidence  for  higher  achievements  in 
the  future.  This  great  receptacle  of  life,  able  to 
feed  one-third  of  all  earth’s  nations,  has — beyond 
any  other  realm — felt  the  quickening  impulse  of 
these  new-born  agencies. 

Amid  these  strange  combinations  of  time,  and 
place,  and  forces,  you  are  called  to  a central 
agency — to  act  a momentous  part — to  prepare  an 
agency  which  will  multiply  yourself  into  a number 
equal  to  many  of  the  posts  to  be  supplied  in  all  the 
learned  professions.  Hence  the  Board  have  left 
large  scope  in  the  system  of  this  University,  to 
bring  its  operations  into  conformity  to  the  varying 
demands  which  shall  arise.  They  have  wisely  re- 
frained from  casting  it  into  that  iron  mold  by  which 


242 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


a European  university  is  placed  beyond  the  power 
of  change,  in  the  midst  of  the  growing  demands  of 
modern  ages.  Indeed,  we  have  never  had  in  the 
New  World  a university  in  the  European  sense  of 
that  word.  Our  college  system  is  exceedingly  un- 
like the  university  systems  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Germany.  Many  never  enter  these  universi- 
ties till  they  have  passed  through  a more  thorough 
course — in  such  schools  as  those  at  Westminster 
and  Winchester — than  our  whole  system,  prepara- 
tory, collegiate,  and  professional,  requires.  The  uni- 
versities of  Scotland  are  great  professional  schools ; 
they  have  not  unfrequently  been  honored  by  brill- 
iant discoveries.  The  lectures  of  their  accom- 
plished professors  have  extended  the  boundaries  of 
scientific  truth.  Those  of  Germany  are  still  more 
unlike  our  collegiate  system.  This  will  scarcely 
bear  a favorable  comparison  to  the  German  Gym- 
nasia. From  the  complete  classical  training  of 
these  high  schools  the  well-drilled  student  passes  to 
the  university  to  master  some  special  department, 
aided  by  rich  libraries  and  eminent  lecturers. 
Our  pilgrim  fathers  aimed  at  imitating  these  great 
institutions  of  the  Old  World,  only  under  marked 
modifi-cations.  In  attempting  to  combine  the  clas- 
sics of  Oxford  with  the  mathematics  of  Cambridge, 
they  not  only  abandoned  every  monastic  feature  of 
both,  but  retained  only  the  strictly-disciplinary  part 
of  either.  They  aimed  only  at  the  realization  of 
that  central  idea  of  a public  education;  namely,  a 


A CHAEGE  TO  EEV.  DE.  FOSTEE. 


243 


systematical  development  of  man’s  faculties  whicli 
best  adapts  him  to  the  utmost  activities  of  life,  and 
fits  him  for  life’s  dose.  To  this  great  idea  their 
successors  have  ever  clung  with  exhaustless  te- 
nacity. 

The  system,  then,  according  to  which  you  are 
expected  to  administer,  is  a wise  eeleetieism^  free 
born  as  the  millions  it  is  appointed  to  bless — op- 
pressed neither  by  the  bondage  of  the  Church  or 
the  despotism  of  the  State.  This  susceptibility  of 
improving  change  is  scarcely  dispensable  in  human 
society,  which  is  constructed  to  be  ever  exceeding 
its  former  self.  It  can  never  be  parted  with  on 
this  new  theater  of  social  development.  Here, 
where  the  race  is  commencing  its  history  anew,  all 
institutions  must  be  constructed  for  correspondent 
modification.  We  derive  this  conclusion  alike  from 
the  reason  of  the  thing  and  from  the  practical  wis- 
dom of  the  past. 

The  two  oldest  institutions  on  our  continent  are 
no  more  now  what  they  were  in  their  incipiency, 
than  the  infant  of  yesterday  is  the  man  of  fifty. 
Had  not  this  elasticity  of  their  constitution  ad- 
mitted of  this  indefinite  progress^  the  advances  of 
society  would  have  been  the  oblivion  of  Cambridge 
and  Yale.  But  the  age  and  place  show  this  state- 
ment to  be  many  times  more  forcible  in  its  appli- 
cation to  this  University.  Were  the  physical  or 
intellectual  universe  wanting  adaptation  to  its  ends, 
this  unfitness  would  impugn  the  wisdom  of  its  Au- 


244 


LECTUEE3  AND  ADDRESSES. 


thor — all  pretension  to  perfection  would  vanish. 
All  the  cardinal  social  differences  between  the  two 
continents  should  be  recognized  in  their  two  educa- 
tional systems.  Ours  has  evinced  its  cogency  in 
the  admirable  character  of  its  fruit.  Our  statesmen, 
diplomatists,  jurists,  barristers,  physicians,  theolo- 
gians, and  other  literati^  have  excelled  in  almost 
every  arena  of  intellectual  exertion. 

This  institution,  whose  destiny  is  now  placed  in 
your  hands,  must,  at  present,  occupy  a middle  posi- 
tion between  a preparatory  seminary  and  a profes- 
sional school.  It  must  now  open  its  doors  alike  to 
prepared  youth  from  the  princely  mansion  and 
from  the  frontier  cabin.  It  must  now  and  ever  be 
in  communion  with  the  living,  acting  world. 

But  its  guardians  look  to  your  skill  and  energy 
for  the  elevation  of  its  position  to  correspond  with 
the  rising  educational  demands  of  the  West.  They 
hope  to  admit  to  its  halls,  before  ages  shall  elapse, 
minds  disciplined,  and  enriched,  and  invigorated,  to 
grapple  with  the  great  problems  of  their  age,  to 
cultivate  the  higher  scientific  branches,  and  even  to 
push  their  researches  into  the  unexplored  regions 
of  general  truth.  Indeed,  the  inward  life  of  the 
University  must  cease  to  glow  the  instant  a higher 
point  of  attainment  should  fade  from  the  field  of 
its  vision. 

A numerous  and  select  library,  an  expensive  and 
various  apparatus,  a cabinet  from  the  various  fields 
of  natural  specimens,  halls  thronged  with  students, 


A CHARQE  TO  REV.  DR.  FOSTER. 


245 


and  ringing  with  lectures,  may  be  so  many  elements 
of  power  in  the  character  of  this  University.  But 
the  aggregate  of  merely  these  can  never  elevate  it 
above  tame  mediocrity;  the  light  emanating,  the 
fire  radiating  from  its  living  soul — the  Presidentj  the 
Faculty — are  to  kindle  its  glorious  future. 

But  the  prospective  has  its  preparative  in  the 
present.  The  problem  now  for  practical  solution  is 
this:  How  shall  the  faculties  of  each  student  be  in 
the  highest  degree  developed,  enriched,  and  invigor- 
ated? Not  by  leaving  each  to  the  guidance  of  his 
own  inclination.  This  is  safe  only  after  uniform 
development  of  dhe  faculties  has  been  secured  by 
thorough  drilling.  As  the  aim  of  our  college  course 
is  the  symmetrical  culture  of  all  the  powers,  and  as 
the  mental  constitution  is  in  all  substantially  the 
same,  the  general  law  of  college  culture  should  be 
correspondingly  uniform.  Till  this  common  culture 
be  completed  it  should  be  unyielding  as  fate.  But 
this  having  been  consummated,  then  when  the  stu- 
dent seeks  professional  attainments,  let  each  freely 
consult  his  own  professional  aptitude.  We  know 
that  education  begins,  and  are  equally  aware  that  it 
never  ends.  Of  this  we  are  assured  by  the  mind’s 
own  mysterious  powers,  whose  immortal  designation 
is  GROWTH.  It  is  midway  of  his  career  that  the 
pupil  is  placed  in  your  plastic  hand ; not  at  its 
beginning,  for  that  is  with  his  first  breath;  not  at 
its  maturity,  for  ere  that  long  ages  must  intervene. 
Charmed  as  is  every  educated  mind  in  surveying 


246 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


the  finished  creation,  it  would  have  been  much 
more  thrilled  in  witnessing  its  rising  process.  This 
greater  pleasure  will  be  yours  in  seeing  the  mental 
fabric  rise  and  successively  assuming  its  appurten- 
ances. Indeed,  yourself  will  be  the  architect,  its 
furniture  will  be  yours  transferred,  and  you  will 
accompany  it  through  every  step  up  to  the  souhs 
mighty  manhood.  As  the  mind’s  food  is  truth,  and 
will  continue  to  be  through  the  eternity  of  its  mys- 
terious life,  in  its  disciplinary  process  it  should  ally 
itself  to  the  deepest  and  broadest  principles  within 
the  human  sphere.  Though  nature  is  all  written 
over  with  truth,  yet  in  its  highest  forms  it  must  be 
sought  beneath  the  surface.  Tireless  attention  is, 
therefore,  the  condition  of  ultimate  attainment.  A 
thousand  wishes  for  wisdom  will  perish  before  the 
threshold  is  reached.  Proximity  to  its  source  is  not 
the  attainment  of  the  treasure.  It  must  be  sought 
with  agony ^ analyzed  siftingly,  and  then  digested 
thoroughly. 

Though  your  work  for  a period  will  chiefly  consist 
in  placing  the  pupil  at  the  avenues  to  knowledge 
through  which  he  can  pass  to  its  broadest  fields — to 
the  microscopic  world  of  analyzed  thought  and  to 
the  telescopic  world  of  far-reaching  principle  — it 
will  not  long  be  so  restricted.  You  will  soon  ac- 
company him  in  his  explorations  in  both  these  broad 
fields.  It  is  not  the  cramming,  but  the  disciplining 
process  which  appertains  to  the  incipiency  of  the 
scholar’s  course,  and  this  part  of  the  course  looks 


A CHARGE  TO  REV.  DR.  FOSTER. 


247 


forward  to  those  higher  functions  of  the  faculties 
which  will  call  into  requisition  the  clearest  concep- 
tions, the  most  exact  judgments,  and  the  highest 
generalization.  These  maturer  exercises  must  ever 
he  preceded  by  what  we  have  designated  as  a germ- 
inant  education.  In  harmony  with  this  view,  will 
you  allow  me  to  intimate  the  Board’s  anticipation 
of  your  accordance  with  the  long-established  colle- 
giate course.  By  this  I of  course  mean  the  clas- 
sical ^ mathematical j and  scientifical  departments — 
excluding  the  professional  branches.  The  mutual 
relations  of  those  college  branches  in  this  order  are 
too  palpable  to  require  protracted  discussion. 

Language,  you  know,  is  the  matrix”  of  thought 
in  the  student’s  own  mind  no  less  than  the  instru- 
ment of  transferring  it  to  other  minds.  In  the 
classic  languages  there  is  an  inherent  tendency  to 
intellectual  culture.  That  delicate  perception,  nice 
analysis,  that  incessant  collocation  of  words,  that 
exact  discriminating  between  apparent  synonyms, 
whet  the  mind  into  a quick,  unerring  insight  into 
the  nice  and  flying  shades  of  variety  in  thought 
and  speech.  That  class  of  writers,  having  been 
masters  of  the  subtilest  elements  of  thought,  have 
furnished  a system  of  symbols  for  communicating  it 
entirely  peerless.  The  reason  is  the  same  why  the 
amateur  visits  the  ancient  seats  of  the  flne  arts  to 
commune  with  their  immortal  masters  through  their 
matchless  productions ; for  the  same  reason  the 
scholar  repairs  to  the  classic  page,  finding  the 


248 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


freshness  and  simplicity  of  nature  combined  with  an 
art  concealed  beneath  its  own  exquisite  perfection. 
Thus  does  the  mind,  schooled  to  delight  in  order, 
fitness,  and  congruity,  recoil  with  intense  emotions 
from  all  the  opposites.  If  language  in  general  can 
alone  span  the  chasm  separating  between  the  mind 
and  consecutive  knowledge,  how  vitally  connected 
with  these  most  finished  languages  must  be  the 
accuracy  of  thought! 

Irrespective  of  that  old  and  dark  question  lying 
between  realism  and  nominalism,  it  may  be  confi- 
dently affirmed  that  there  is  no  form  of  study  which 
more  fully  brings  all  the  faculties  into  united  effort, 
nor  any  other  instrument  so  related  to  all  kinds  of 
mental  service.  Intimacy  with  these  perfect  sym- 
bols of  thought  is  a fit  preparative  to  mathematics. 
This,  conducting  the'  mind  through  a process  of 
severe  reasoning,  enables  it  to  cling  to  the  forms 
of  abstract  truth,  endowing  it  with  a keenness,  and 
a quickness,  and  a vigor  not  otherwise  attainable. 
Without  this  communion  with  abstract  thought  the 
mind  can  scarcely  escape  the  tyranny  of  vagrant 
habits  by  the  power  of  concentrated  attention,  and 
can  take  hold  of  no  series  of  thought  with  a com- 
prehensive grasp.  What  is  foreign  will  obtrude  and 
will  fix  itself  inexorably  at  the  single  point  one 
would  examine.  These  two  branches,  including  the 
concrete  sciences,  have,  as  you  know,  since  the  re- 
vival of  letters,  been  at  the  foundation  of  a liberal 
education.  When  we  remember  over  how  broad 


A CHARGE  TO  REV.  DR.  FOSTER. 


249 


and  various  fields  these  branches  extend — that  they 
embrace  the  physical,  the  metaphysical,  the  social, 
the  historical,  and  the  like — we  can  not  overvalue 
the  abstract  underlying  principle.  From  these  in- 
ward vital  elements  of  college  training  external 
discipline  should  never  be  apart.  This  is  sum- 
marily cadled  institutional  order,  generating  in  the 
student-habits  of  self-control,  rigid  punctuality,  and 
gentlemanly  bearing.  Where  these  are  wanting, 
harmony  between  the  governed  and  the  governing 
is  wanting — opposite  aims,  conflicting  interests,  dis- 
tracting feuds — and  may  become  ruinous  as  volcanic 
agency. 

To  preserve  an  afiectionate  harmony  among  all 
concerned,  the  history  of  colleges,  you  are  aware, 
has  pronounced  difficult.  But  the  difficulty,  we 
know,  is  not  insuperable,  as  the  thing  has  been 
achieved.  Few  public  blessings  remain  long  un- 
changed by  our  inward  perverting  tendencies.  Our 
free  institutions,  both  the  parent  an  i o'spring  of 
cultivated  society,  are  made  the  occasion  of  insub- 
ordination; while  the  oldest  despotism  of  Oriental 
realms  incidentally  issue  in  opposite  results.  No 
observer,  passing  from  those  early  seats  of  our  race 
in  the  East  toward  the  Western  empires  of  younger 
nations,  will  fail  to  be  struck  at  every  stage  with 
the  wasting  reverence  for  parents  and  teachers,  and 
with  the  dying  regard  for  all  authority.  The  oc- 
casion forbids  us  to  trace  the  causes  and  cure  of 
this  desolating  evil;  but  I can  not  forbear  naming 


250 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES.  • 


felt  Christianity  as  the  neutralizing  agent  of  all  evil. 
This  has  negotiated  peace  between  two  worlds,  and 
can  certainly  preserve  amity  in  a college  fraternity; 
not  by  extinguishing  passion,  but  by  kindling  it 
into  a glow  of  sympathy  which  forms  the  social 
cement.  There  is  one  tendency  in  the  classical 
course  which  demands  such  a neutralizing  influ- 
ence to  control  it : I allude  to  the  heathenizing 
influence  breathed  through  all  pagan  literature. 
Though  we  can  never  dispense  with  those  peer- 
less modes  and  symbols  of  thought  till  a far  higher 
culture  shall  polish  modern  literature,  yet  against 
the  subtile  poison  of  pagan  ethics  and  polytheism 
we  must  interpose  the  shield  of  vital  Christianity. 
The  classic  field  can  be  appropriately  surveyed  only 
from  a Christian  stand-point. 

Kindred  to  this  thought,  may  I be  permitted, 
in  conclusion,  to  suggest  one  more?  It  is  the 
historic  fact  that  the  Church,  through  all  the  ages 
of  her  history,  has  been  the  grand  educator  of  the  * 
race.  This  has  been  so  not  merely  because  Chris- 
tianity is  the  grand  quiokener  of  the  intellect,  and 
Vould  legitimately  fill  all  minds  with  light,  but  be- 
cause it  alone  can  impart  the  ethical  element;  and, 
apart  from  this  element,  the  highest  faculty  must 
remain  uneducated.  The  substratum  ^of  heathen 
education  was  polytheism — that  of  Christian  edu- 
cation is  Christian  theism.  The  fierceness  of  the 
antagonism  is  intrinsic  and  historical.  The  former 
was  the  last  obstacle  to  yield  before  the  triumphant 


A CHARGE  TO  REU.  DR.  FOSTER. 


251 


sway  of  the  new  religion.  Long  did  it  resist  the 
higher  civilization  introduced  by  its  Christian  an- 
tagonist. To  be  diffusive  of  moral  light  through 
intellectual  truth,  is  innate  to  that  system  whose 
source  was  dying  love.  It  was,  therefore,  not  only 
the  wisdom  of  the  Church,  but  its  necessity,  to 
educate  the  race. 

The  keys  just  delivered  into  your  hands  are  a 
symbol  of  power  over  mind  committed  to  your 
trust.  This  grave  charge  the  Board  have  solemnly 
confided  to  3mur  agency  for  purposes  of  the  highest 
discipline.  It  is  mind,  without  which  all  the  lights 
in  the  universe  were  kindled  in  vain  — mind,  for 
which  alone  God  said  let  there  be  suns,  and  moons, 
and  stars  to  throw  their  radiancy  through  all  the 
chambers  of  nature.  It  is  for  the  culture  of  these 
agents,  the  feeblest  of  which  may  yet  expand  be- 
yond the  great  field  in  which  power  creative  has 
yet  energized — may  become  susceptible  of  intenser 
bliss  than  now  rings  from  all  the  harps  on  high. 
This  wondrous  image  of  the  uncreated  mind,  no 
less  expansive  than  deathless,  is  now,  placed  in 
your  custody  to  mold,  and  polish,  and  expand,  and 
replenish,  and  thereby  to  fix  for  its  incomprehens- 
ive  destiny  in  those  far-off  ages  which  Jehovah’s 
mind  alone  pervades.  Such,  then,  is  young  mind, 
that  every  chord  within  it  which  your  fingers  shall 
touch  may  sound  in  concert  with  the  highest  har- 
monies of  the  universe. 


'.S'S 


i J i'-v  . . 

‘ ■ vs.  , . 

-r;-  . ■ ■ -.-f.r--  . ■ ■ 

- ' ' 4i  ■ ^ ■■ 

. •'.'S.-',,  ..,  , ;0.:  .J  • .’t^vaa 

■-■■■-  ■,  Or)  . . . 

r vr  V.T-  ' -.ii-f., 

0=:i  /:lu:;l 

sfv  ■ -: 

;'V  ’iV,M 

■ • ■'  h ti-;  ,;;■,■•!'  .,'!  •,,'<'  iv 

,vYli.  .1  .•au,t.-:.V,  !■[  ■;  •.  ■ : .u.:,.  :',  ; ;y ■^ -qy 

>!;■;:■  ti  r-  ii  ^iili/'u  '.'  :,  ■&-t|D 

•;^l^u.  At"--':;;;!  r’;i-.'  i;;v’^  i ».■ 

...  ',  ;(«/  «fft,  1:  ? ,;.•.  f 


XII. 


\ 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS: 

DELIVERED  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE  NORTH- 
WESTERN UNIVERSITY  FOR  1862. 


Remember  this  and  show  yourselves  men.^^ — Isaiah  xlvi,  8. 

This  address  is  not  made  to  our  manhood  in  the 
sense  of  brute  courage,  or  of  lofty  martial  bearing, 
or  in  the  sense  of  any  accidental  distinction — it  is 
an  appeal  made  to  our  noblest  powers  for  their  le- 
gitimate application.  The  subject  does  not  demand 
attention  tq  man  as  a wondrous  physical  organism, 
involving  all  the  combined  excellences  of  every  pre- 
ceding creature  which  has  ever  lived,  but  it  re- 
quires attention  to  man  as  a link  in  the  great  chain 
of  the  intellectual  universe — as  an  agent  in  the 
endless  train  of  moral  actors — as  having  a part  to 
perform  in  executing  the  scheme  of  Providence,  and 
in  working  out  the  problem  of  redemption — as  a 
retrospective  being  mysteriously  related  to  the  past, 
with  a view  to  a preparation  for  the  pregnant  fu- 
ture. Guided  by  these  principles  in  this  discussion, 
I shall  invite  attention  to  a manly  reference  to  the 

past — to  a manly  decision  of  character — to  a manly 

253 


254 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


estimate  of  true  greatness — to  a manly  apprecia- 
tion of  our  abiding  relations  to  the  universe. 

The  general  reference  of  the  subject  is  irrespect- 
ive of  age;  its  particular  application  is  to  young 
men.  That  youth  is  rashj  is  an  immemorial  assump- 
tion. So  far  as  real  it  is  resolvable  into  the  double 
cause  of  defective  experience  and  ardor  of  constitu- 
tion. Improvement  of  the  former  will  give  value 
to  the  latter.  The  attainment  of  this  may  be  made 
in  the  lesson  of  history^  and  in  the  experience  of  re- 
ligion. History  is  not  merely  the  counselor  of 
kings/’  but  the  instructor  of  humanity,  especially 
of  youthful  humanity,  in  life’s  perilous  morning, 
when  our  allotment  is  new,  almost  as  if  we  had 
last  night  just  entered  upon  its^ strange  experiences. 
Experience,  which  can  not  then  be  personal,  can 
here  be  had  by  proxy.  The  latest  age  is  appointed 
to  draw  upon  departed  ages — priority  to  live  for 
posterity.  Each  age  should  be  wise  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  generations  which  have  preceded 
it.  When  personal  experience  comes  to  the  individ- 
ual youth  has  fled,  and  with  it  goes  the  finest  ele- 
ment of  manhood — nohle  daring.  But  when  the 
experience  of  the  past  cooperates  with  the  generous 
ardor  of  youth,  the  crowning  glory  of  wisdom  can 
be  fully  manifest.  Such  a strenuous  actor,  though 
young  in  years,  is  old  in  communion  with  matured 
historic  manhood. 

The  demands  and  liabilities  of  life  can  no  other- 
wise be  known  in  its  earlier  stages,  or  the  condi- 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS.  255 

tions  ascertained  on  which  life  can  be  made  a suc- 
cess. Every  youthful  mind  should  throw  itself 
open  to  the  conviction  that  it  has  a destiny  to  ful- 
fill, and  that  its  failure  will  so  far  frustrate  God's 
providence.  His  appointed  task  may  be  to  educate 
his  cotemporaries  by  transferring  to  their  minds 
the  wealth  and  habits  of  his  own ; or  to  extend  civ- 
ilization by  advancing  the  humanitarian  institu- 
tions, making  them  more  eminently  the  glory  of 
the  age;  or  to  become,  an  ornament  of  one  of  the 
learned  professions,  where  the  honor  shall  be  recip- 
rocal to  the  calling. and  the  incumbent — where,  act- 
ing on  an  eminence,  he  may  bless  a larger  portion 
of  his  race.  There  is  not  one  agent  within  the  cir- 
cle of  the  sun  who  is  not ' appointed  to  be  a co- 
worker with  God's  providence.  Having  this  Divine 
coadjutor,  and  millions  of  fellow-laborers,  how  can  he 
enter,  untaught  by  the  past,  on  this  great  theater? 
To  begin  life's  action  is  to  step  on  holy  ground — it 
has  a commencement,  but  no  termination.  On  such 
an  unending  career  the  full-orbed  light  of  the  past 
should  shine.  The  monitory  voice  of  ages  ringing 
in  your  ears  tells  you  not  precipitately,  not  with  a 
rush,  but  deliberately,  this  should  be  done.  Every 
lesson  you.  have  mastered  in  ethics,  in  philosophy, 
and  in  all  kindred  branched,  reiterates  this  moni- 
tion. This  instruction,  uttered  by  the  voices  of  the 
dead  and  the  distant,  is  to  be  embodied  in  practical 
wisdom,  and  thus  contribute  to  that  sublime  end 

of  all  knowledge — right  action.  The  comparative 

22 


256 


LECTURES  AND  ABERESSES* 


guilt  of  inaction  and  of  wrong  action  may  well  be 
left  to  the  casuist,  but  that  either  is  a prevention 
of  man’s  godlike  powers  is  no  question. 

Of  all  the  young  man’s  solicitudes  none  is  deeper 
than  ^'how  he  shall  make  life  a success.”  If  the 
solution  be  sought  in  chance  or  in  destiny,  it  will 
be  sought  in  vain;  ^Hhe  shade  will  ever  elude  the 
grasp.”  It  can  be  found  only  in  an  earnest  co5per- 
ation  with  the  providence  of  God.  Virtuous  effort 
and  Divine  reward  are  among  the  harmonies  of  the 
universe.  This  is  among  those  great  maxims  which 
contain  the  essence  of  all  practical  wisdom,  and 
which  can  not  be  ignored  without  the  most  fatal 
results.  This  divine  philosophy  takes  root  in  Chris- 
tian theology,  and  is  the  only  unblundering  guide 
through  the  human  pilgrimage.  The  rashness  is 
stupendous  which  would  cut  off  the  present  from 
the  past.  This  severance  would  keep  the  race  for- 
ever in  its  cradle;  it  would  doom  man  to  that 
infancy  which  would  preclude  all  advancement;  it 
would  preclude  prior  generations  from  bequeathing 
to  us  the  wealth  of  their  experience ; it  would 
place  at  an  unapproachable  distance  the  intellectual 
millennium  of  the  race,  no  less  than  the  spiritual 
millennium  of  God;  it  would  fix  the  track  of  every 
generation  in  the  same ‘beaten  path  trod  by  all  hu- 
man feet.  In  fine,  it  would  establish  a conclusion 
subversive  of  a thousand  notorious  facts. 

Was  there  ever  a more  perilous  maxim  than  that 
the  knowledge  of  life  and  character  is  valueless 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


only  as  gained  by  experience?  It  deridingly  con- 
tradicts the  great  moral  principle  divinely  pro- 
claimed, Train  up  a child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it.’* 
This  is  either  sweepingly  true  as  a principle,  or 
there  is  an  end  to  human  progress,  and  no  signifi- 
cancy  in  the  growing  capabilities  stamped  on  our 
powers — then,  after  the  flight  of  a hundred  ages. 

In  statu  quo"  would  be  the  dark  inscription  on 
the  allotment  of  man.  Every  individual  would 
drudge  through  the  same  experimental  process — ^ 
each  would  learn  wisdom  from  adversity,  caution 
from  imprudence,  temperance  from  excess,  industry 
from  want,  and  all  the  virtues  from  the  blighting 
experience  of  their  opposite  vices.  The  contraction 
of  life,  from  almost  a thousand  years  to  less  than  a 
century,  was  to  be  compensated  by  appropriating 
ancestral  experience.  Where  this  is  ignored  each 
terminates  life  ere  it  can  be  well  begun;  as  though 
he  were  in  the  morning  of  time,  in  the  cradle  of 
the  race,  and  had  heard  the  angelic  shout  at  the 
rise  of  creation — as  though  he  had  nothing  human 
to  retrospect  and  every  thing  human  to  learn.  To 
such  the  huge  volume  of  six  thousand  years  is  a 
sealed  book,  and  the  mystic  echo  of  oracular  voices 
dies  in  the  distance  unheard. 

Why  should  not  the  mighty  utterances  of  the 
dead,  sounding  from  the  ancient  hights  of  time,  be 
heeded  by  posterity  as  angel  messages?  Though  it 
be  not  given  to  us,  as  to  some  nobler  nature,  to 


258 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


view  from  the  summit  of  the  universe  the  great  ex- 
periment of  the  race  in  all  its  bearings  on  the  whole 
family  of  God;  yet  may  we  learn  our  future  selves 
in  the  light  emanating  from  the  development  of  our 
predecessors.  - 

2.  Our  next  direction  is  to  study  the  laws  of  our 
own  being.  The  living  can  learn  the  lessons  of  the 
dead  only  as  they  learn  themselves.  The  laws  of 
one’s  own  nature  are  to  him  the  revelation  of  God; 
they  should,  therefore,  be  read  and  scrutinized  with 
the  veneration  which  that  sentence  from  heaven 
elicited — T\ojd^t  leajTO'^ — which  glowed  in  letters  of 
gold  on  the  Grecian  temple.  In  the  light  that  dis- 
closes these  mystic  powers  every  moral  act  is  seen 
to  have  a twofold  character  and  importance.  It  is 
useful  or  injurious  as  are  its  consequences;  vicious 
or  virtuous  as  are  its  motives.  By  a special  law  of 
our  being  the  repetition  of  action  generates  a mys- 
terious sway  over  our  faculties.  This  power,  which 
is  so  gained  or  lost,  invests  every  repeated  act  with 
an  importance  not  its  own.  It  creates  those  perma- 
nent characteristics  which  are  ever  removing  the 
p.gent  further  from  the  reach  of  change. 

This  law  alike  controls  the  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  man.  A thousand  examples  prove  the 
stupendous  energy  with  which  intellect  is  thus  in- 
vested. Attention,  memory,  judgment  illustrate 
this  law  in  the  strength  they  derive  from  use.  Nor 
is  the  power  of  moral  habit  less  amazing.  Every 
act  of  vice  is  another  link  in  that  adamantine  chain 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


259 


doomed  to  bind  the  soul  in  the  dungeon  of  spirits. 
Every  deed  of  piety  is  an  upward  step  toward  the 
lofty  seats  of  glorified  humanity.  The  occultness 
with  which  this  principle  of  habit  operates  connects 
the  wonderful  fact  with  not  a shadow  of  doubt. 
Those  upright  principles  and  noble  sentiments,  mak- 
ing the  elements  of  good  character,  can  no  other- 
wise acquire  their  strength.  These,  having  thus 
acquired  maturity,  become  the  fountain  of  those 
mighty  thoughts,  noble  impulses,  generous  sympa- 
thies, and  lofty  aspirations,  w^hich  have  distinguished 
the  Howards,  the  Wilberforces,  and  the  other  angel- 
men  of  the  race.  In  such  the  true  and  the  good 
become  so  deeply  seated  as  to  be  the  only  idol  of 
the  souks  veneration.  What  are  merely  intellectual 
endowments  compared  to  this  moral  ascent  toward 
the  center  of  all  greatness  and  perfection?  What 
is  the  Aristotelian  skill  in  dialectics,  the  Homeric 
pomp  of  poetry,  the  Ciceronian  power  of  eloquence, 
and  the  Baconian  breadth  in  all  philosophy  ? What 
are  all  these — though  the  envy  of  ages — ^^compared 
to  that  confirmed  goodness  to  which  all  worlds  are 
appointed  to  minister? 

Nor  should  it  ever  escape  you,  young  gentlemen, 
that  the  power  of  evil  habit  is  not  less  cogent.  It 
tends  to  the  same  gigantic  growth  in  its  downward 
workings.  Insinuating  itself  in  the  moral  constitu- 
tion, it  becomes  a part  of  the  very  elements  of  be- 
ing. Soon  it  reaches  that  fearful  maturity  in  which 
its  tyrant  power  derides  the  resistance  of  will,  and 


260 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


thus  masters  that  inward  energy  to  which  our  last 
appeal  is  made.  Often  has  the  voice  of  wisdom 
warned  you  against  corrupt  prints  and  vicious  asso- 
ciates; but  why  should  it  not,  in  deeper  tones,  pre- 
monish you  against  the  more  insidious,  silent,  bosom 
foes?  There,  in  the  profound  secrecy  of  the  heart, 
where  impure  thoughts  are  voluntarily  introduced 
or  deliberately  indulged,  is  at  work  a more  malig- 
nant poison  than  the  brothel  ever  vomited  on  soci- 
ety! These  imminently  peril  the  whole  future  of 
the  agent.  Just  as  when  the  mind  moves  in  the 
bright  circles  of  truth,  justice,  purity,  and  benig- 
nity, its  legitimate  manifestations  are  godlike;  so, 
when  it  works  in  the  dark,  secretly  communing 
with  the  foul  and  the  hase^  it  naturally  embodies 
these  monsters  in  practical  life.  Great  virtues,  like 
great  crimes,  flow  from  triumphant  habit  contracted 
in  the  viewless  chambers  of  the  soul.  There,  un- 
seen by  all  eyes  but  the  eye  of  consciousness  and  of 
God,  the  virtue  is  achieved  or  the  vice  perpetrated, 
long  before  it  bursts  into  visible  execution. 

When  moral  power  is  thus  accumulated,  it  is 
never  wanting  scope  for  action;  it  waits  not  for  a 
great  crisis,  but  ever  finds  the  harvest  ripe  for  the 
sickle;  it  works  on  through  sunshine  and  storm — 
for  injured  innocence  and  oppressed  humanity — for 
down-trodden  truth  and  imperiled  patriotism.  In 
this  sharpened  state  of  the  moral  powers,  the  mind 
recognizes  three  grand  volumes,  thus  labeled,  in 
letters  of  light,  God’s  works.”  One  of  these  is 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


261 


the  great  objective  system  entitled  Nature;  the 
other  is  the  subjective  system  called  Mind 
and  the  third,  the  living  oracles  named  Scrip- 
ture!'  To  the  mind,  in  this  state,  the  oneness  of 
authorship  is  obtrusively  palpable;  it  is  seen  in  the 
light  of  self-evidence.  The  laws  of  thought  and  the 
truths  of  Revelation  can  not  be  out  of  harmony. 
The  one  is  God’s  book  without  us;  the  other  is  his 
revelation  within  us.  The  correspondence  of  the 
one  to  the  other  shows  them  inseparable  as  the 
incident  and  reflected  rays.  Thus  by  knowing  one’s 
self  he  perceives  all  nature  an  ocean  of  elemental 
thought,  and  all  revelation  a still  higher  disclosure 
of  the  same  mighty  intellect, 

I remark  that  another  element  of  manliness  is 
DECISION  of  character.  This  involves  an  indisso- 
luble connection  between  the  conclusions  of  the 
judgment  and  the  decisions  of  the  will.  The  order 
in  this  process  is  patience  in  inquiry,  accuracy  in 
knowing,  reliance  on  judgment,  and  vigor  of  pur- 
pose, Legitimately  does  this  changeless  reason  fol- 
low a transparent  judgment,  based  on  precision  of 
thought,  preceded  by  sifting  investigation.  That 
very  caution  which  generates  timidity  in  the  empty 
mind,  inspires  courage  in  the  richly-replenished 
mind.  The  one,  like  the  midnight  traveler,  not 
knowing  the  dangers  of  his  way,  advances  with 
hesitancy ; the  other,  with  noonday  light  on  his 
path,  fearlessly  advances.  The  one  is  attended  by 
timidity  and  delay ; the  other,  by  confidence  and 


262 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


speed.  The  influence  of  certainty  on  confidence  is 
among  our  most  common  experiences.  When  did 
the  mathematician  ever  want  confidence  in  the  most 
distant  conclusion  of  his  protracted  process? 

In  its  measure,  similar  certitude  attends  all  moral 
and  practical  truth  when  previous  inquiry  has  given 
transparency  to  all  its  relations.  All  the  lines  of 
light  meeting  on  the  point  in  question,  the  connec- 
tion becomes  indissoluble  between  the  conclusions 
of  the  understanding  and  the  decisions  of  the  will. 
Then,  if  passion  kindles,  it  only  becomes  a glowing 
atmosphere  which  invests  the  judgment,  and  not  a 
tyrant  to  enslave  it;  it  is  the  master  and  not  the 
victim  of  the  most  glowing  emotions.  The  merest 
glance  at  the  phenomena  of  the  will  discloses  the 
connection  between  (imre,  judgment,  and  confidence, 
showing  that  they  never  fail  to  precede  volition, 
and  that  the  strength  of  this  is  the  measure  of  the 
vigor  of  them.  Power  was  never  found  alone  in 
the  universe ; stripped  of  its  accompaniments,  it 
would  be  the  most  fearful  object  that  could  alarm 
responsible  beings.  It  is  the  mantle  of  virtue 
flowing  gracefully  over  the  giant’s  shoulders  which 
blends  the  feeling  of  security  with  the  idea  of 
grandeur. 

Decision  of  character  regards  both  the  subjective 
and  objective  spheres  of  action.  The  former  is 
legitimately  the  ground  of  the  latter.  He  who 
conquers  himself,  vanquishing  his  passions,  his  ap- 
petites, and  his  selfishness,  is  the  divinely-recog- 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


263 


nized  hero— ^^Euling  his  spirit,  he  is  better  than 
he  who  taketh  a city.’'  Decision  of  character  is, 
therefore,  a virtue  which  no  where  fails  to  have 
ample  scope.  Not  only  in  every  one  of  the  learned 
professions,  at  every  post  of  official  trust,  but  in 
the  humblest  walks  of  private  life  — in  the  deep 
recesses  of  our  own  mysterious  nature  — it  can 
mightily  operate.  Where  great  truth  has  been 
known  — its  strength  contemplated  in  its  majesty 
and  experienced  in  its  power  — this  characteristic 
has  come  forth  in  its  noblest  form.  Look  at 
that  mighty  Jew,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  following  truth 
through  flood  and  flame!  At  first  the  hated  sect 
melts  away  before  the  fiery  breath  of  his  nostrils 
as  the  snow  from  Lebanon  before  the  simoom  of 
the  desert;  but  no  sooner  does  a beam  from  heaven 
fall  on  his  dark  spirit  than  he  follows  its  certain 
light,  with  a sublime  devotion  with  which  the 
whole  age  glowed.  At  once  and  forever  he  propa- 
gates the  faith  he  has  destroyed;  all  other  interests 
relinquish  their  hold  on  this  wonderful  man.  The 
temples  of  Diana,  Jupiter  Olympius,  the  Parthenon, 
with  all  their  enchanting  associations,  all  the  clas- 
sical grandeur,  the  accumulation  of  ages,  were  for- 
gotten toys  in  competition  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Grasp,  I beseech  you,  young  men,  the  substance 
of  these  hints  on  decision  of  character — this  most 
manly  trait  in  a symmetrical  mind.  Their  recapitu- 
lation may  give  them  a stronger  hold  on  memory: 

1.  Kevert,  then,  to  the  radical  importance  of  ac- 

23 


264 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


curate  knowledge  to  correct  judgments  — to  the 
ruin  of  mental  decision  effected  by  vague  thinking. 
2.  Eeflect,  also,  that  perfection  of  knowledge  is  an 
advance  on  accuracy  of  knowledge.  While  accu- 
racy regards  a single  branch  of  a complex  subject, 
perfection  embraces  oil  its  branches — that  embracing 
each,  and  this  comprehending  all — so  that  every  one 
is  known  in  its  altitude,  longitude,  and  latitude, 
and  the  whole  in  its  contents,  properties,  and  rela- 
tions. 3.  But  it  must  not  escape  us  that  these 
degrees  of  knowledge  can  never  extend  to  all  sub- 
jects. This  fact,  which  nothing  could  conceal,  has 
originated  a division  of  labor,  and  repudiated  all 
universality  of  genius.  Indeed,  as  genius  is  a par- 
ticular adaptation,  it  embodies  a contradiction  to 
suppose  it  universal.  This  does  not  preclude  that 
general  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  the  in- 
dispensable bond  of  unity  in  the  learned  world. 
Beyond  this  each  must  restrict  himself  to  one  field, 
and  there  make  clean  work.  This  mastery  of  all 
the  principles  of  one’s  profession  leads  him  with  a 
firm  step  to  the  highest  public  confidence.  4.  To 
do  this  investigation  must  ever  precede  delibera- 
tion. Judgme’nt  is  not  the  antecedent  but  the 
sequent  of  examination.  This  canon  enhances  the 
importance  of  the  next;  namely,  5.  Desire  must 
never  outstrip  the  movements  of  investigation,  de- 
liberation, and  judgment.  Desire  kindles  into  pas- 
sion the  moment  it  treads  ou  the  heels  of  these 
calmer  movements  of  the  soul;  but  otherwise  it 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


265 


will  quicken  these,  and  will  chain  the  end  to  the 
final  volition  in  the  union  of  an  unconquerable 
decision.  6.  The  final  thought  turns  on  the  object 
of  desire.  The  character  of  the  object  is  not  the 
test  of  immediate  success;  the  basest  object  is  often 
attainable,  but  then  success  is  ruin;  but  the  object 
of  desire  being  noble  bears  investigation,  and  those 
other  mental  steps  preparatory  to  reverseless  de- 
cision. 

May  I next  direct  your  attention  to  a manly  es- 
timate of  true  greatness  ? It  is  essentially  com- 
posed of  the  two  elements,  power  and  goodness. 
That  goodness  is  an  indispensable  element  of  great- 
ness appears  from  the  mind’s  own  moral  structure. 
The  incipient  conviction  of  this  spontaneously 
arises,  and  it  becomes  deeper  and  stronger  as  one 
perceives  that  he  possesses  his  powers  fully  only  in 
the  consciousness  of  moral  rectitude.  The  allega- 
tion which  often  meets  us,  that  ambition  dares 
greater  perils  than  patriotism,  that  avarice  endures 
severer  sufferings  than  benevolence,  and  that  su- 
perstition makes  longer  pilgrimages  than  piety — 
that  is,  that  there  are  other  forces  in  our  nature 
stronger  than  goodness — can  not  be  true.  But  how 
monstrous  the  conclusion  that  a human  spirit  is 
weaker  when  allied  to  God  its  father,  than  when 
in  the  thraldom  of  debasing  passion ! The  reverse 
is  authenticated  by  all  history.  Let  that  determine 
what  has  been  wrought  by  the  activities  of  selfish- 
ness compared  to  the  deeds  of  toil,  peril,  and  endur- 


266 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


ance  achieved  by  Christian  philanthropy.  Trace 
the  angel  path  of  Howard,  whose  track  led  him 
through  the  darkest  dungeons  of  Europe,  to  miti- 
gate the  prison  horrors  of  confined  sufierers.  Look 
at  the  Moravian  missionaries,  rending  every  kin- 
dred .endearment,  and  directing  their  steps  to  the 
Wintry  region  of  Greenland,  to  mitigate  the  horrors^ 
of  paganism,  and  assuage,  by  the  light  of  the  Word^ 
the  long  night  of  ages!  There  they  toil  from  age 
to  age,  with  no  pleasure  but  that  of  doing  good — 
no  reward  but  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 
Compare  to  them  the  daring  sons  of  ambition, 
whose  scorching  light,  like  the  meteor’s  glare, 
flashes  on  the  eye  of  the  world  and  expires. 

3.  Another  mode  in  which  goodness  contributes 
to  greatness  is  hy  imparting  self-conteol.  The 
scepter  swayed  over  one’s  self  is  the  most  potent 
ever  grasped  by  the  hand  of  power.  It  is  a divine 
utterance,  ^^He  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  better  than 
he  that  taketh  a city.”  He  masters  a resistance 
arising  from  the  mysterious  recesses  of  his  own 
spirit;  he  vanquishes  forces  which  defy  the  might- 
iest physical  power.  His  antagonists  are  those 
downward  tendencies  which  make  a part  of  himself; 
each  of  which  can  be  mastered  only  by  a new  ap- 
plication of  skill.  These  forces  acknowledge  no  di- 
rect control  of  the  will;  they  set  at  naught  that 
great  agency  which  wields  all  power.  They  burst 
from  the  restraints  of  the  will  like  the  demoniacs 
which  rended  the  fetters  that  bound  them.  The 


A BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS. 


267 


subjective  becomes  the  objective;  the  controller  and 
the  controlled  are  identical.  Who  can  measure  the 
difficulty  of  acquiring  this  strange  sovereignty? — 
of  hushing  to  calmness  the  wildest  passions,  and 
making  harmless  as  light  the  most  fiery  emotions? 
Mere  rigor  of  purpose  can  no  more  accomplish  this 
than  it  can  make  the  raging  ocean  waveless,  or  the 
angry  heavens  stormless. 

Of  all  earth's  conquerors,  then,  he  must  be  the 
most  potent  who  has  the  secret  of  self-control.  Let 
memory  run  back  over  the  chain  of  ages,  and  recall 
instances  enough  of  mighty  minds  to  represent  the 
whole  class.  Let  it  select  Caesar,  who  ruled  the 
nation  that  ruled  the  world;  Alexander,  who  wept 
that  there  was  not  a second  globe  over  which  to 
lead  his  invincible  phalanx;  Napoleon,  at  whose 
lightning  approach  all  Europe  shuddered — these 
were  among  the  giants  of  the  race  whose  monu- 
ments ages  will  not  crumble.  But  had  they  mas- 
tered themselves  as  they  controlled  their  armies, 
vastly  other  than  it  was  would  have  been  their 
fate  — the  Senate-house  would  never  have  been 
stained  by  the  blood  of  murdered  Caesar;  a fit  of 
drunkenness  would  never  have  been  the  death-bed 
of  the  world’s  conqueror;  a lonely  rock  in  the 
midst  of  the  ocean  would  never  have  been  the 
prison-house  of  the  Emperor.  Had  they  acquired 
what  goodness  alone  can  impart,  their  respective 
ages  would  have  transmitted  different  histories  to 
posterity.  This  mighty  element  of  greatness  en- 


268 


LEGTUEES  “AND  ADDRESSES. 


ables  a man  to  have  himself  in  his  owii  power;  to 
lay  his  controlling  hand  on  his  spirit  when  it 
flashes  and  glows  in  the  burning  furnace  of  tempta- 
tion. This  is  a triumph  which  would  have  secured 
the  archangel,  fallen,  upon  his  throne  of  light.  It 
is  the  triumph  of  reason  over  passion,  over  appetite, 
over  the  buffetings  and  blandishments  of  society, 
and  over  the  dark  agency  that  rules  the  midnight 
of  demons.  Apart  from  this  attribute  of  goodness, 
how  could  true  greatness  exist,  even  on  the  throne 
of  the  Eternal  Sovereign? 

4.  The  vital  connection  of  the  one  with  the  other 
is  exhibited  in  the  elevating  power  of  goodness 
upon  men  in  the  lower  walks  of  private  life.  The 
history  of  facts  must  have  superseded  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  process.  We  demand,  with  confidence, 
where  is  there  a lofty  sphere  of  social  frust  to 
which  goodness  has  not  raised  citizens  of  this  class? 
Franklin  was  the  son  of  a soap-boiler ; the  elder 
Adams’s  father  was  a farmer;  Jay’s  ancestors 
were  merchants ; Eittenhouse  was  a clock-maker ; 
Washington  a practical  surveyor.  These,  which 
are  but  scattered  specimens  of  numerous  instances 
illustrative  of  the  principle,  emerged  from  humble 
walks  and  pious  families,  and  will  forever  be  monu- 
mental of  the  elevating  power  of  goodness.  The 
history  of  other  lands  and  ages  is  not  less  replete 
with  the  workings  of  this  same  principle. 

We  can  not  advert  to  the  accompaniments  of 
gODdness,  to  the  sterling  integrity,  the  tireless  dili- 


A BACCALAUEEATE  ADDEESS. 


269 


gence,  the  fervid  piety  which  it  secures,  without 
finding  it  a passport  to  elevated  position.  How  this 
principle  operates  in  such  a position  can  not  be  un- 
known to  history.  It  there  develops  in  schemes  of  \ 
improvement,  in  salutary  legislation,  and  in  broad 
philanthropy,  silently  rebuking  grasping  selfishness 
and  official  corruption.  Like  a star  in  the  polar 
heavens,  it  can  never  cease  to  shed  its  beams  on  the 
pathway  of  coming  generations;  it  can  never  fail 
to  diminish  the  tide  of  corruption  which  so  darkly 
rolls  over  public  station.  Like  its  emblem  the  sun, 
holding  its  family  of  worlds  in  their  pathway  of  air, 
clothing  them  with  life,  and  bloom,,  and  beauty,  it 
so  conserves  and  adorns  the  high  places  of  power. 

4.  But  as  an'  element  of  greatness  goodness  is  no 
where  more  conspicuous  than  in  oratory.  That  in- 
tellectual power  is  essential  to  eloquence  is  never 
questioned,  but  that  it  derives  its  greatest  energy 
from  goodness  we  maintain.  How  can  the  heart  be 
inured  to  unworthy  occupations  without  becoming 
assimilated  to  its  employment? — without  thus  be- 
coming a weight  to  depress  the  intellect  ? No 
passion  triumphs  without  contracting  the  mind's 
sphere,  and  obscuring  its  vision.  But  goodness  is 
the  quickener  of  the  intellect,  stimulating  its  active 
researches  and  powerful  combinations.  The  glow 
of  his  heart  who  walks  with  God  kindles  his  intel- 
lect; it  expands  and  fructifies  the  mind  like  the 
sun  on  the  face  of  vegetable  nature.  The  warmth 
of  the  heart  expands  the  powers  of  the  intellect. 


270 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


How  can  the  heart  ascend  to  God  without  carrying 
with  it  the  intellect  ? Upon  no  other  track  of 
thought  open  such  scenes  of  boundless  wisdom. 
The  enthusiasm  of  the  heart  sets  logic  on  fire,  and 
the  speaker  s achievement  on  the  driest  theme  is 
apart  from  all  frigidity.  These  flashes  of  goodness 
from  the  purified  heart  evoke  the  profoundest  emo- 
tions of  our  mysterious  nature;  they  awaken  those 
profound  sentiments  which  find  their  correspondence 
in  nothing  else.  The  speaker  s nobility  addresses 
the  hearer’s  magnanimity.  The  depth  of  his  con- 
victions creates  in  the  listener  those  correspond- 
ingly profound.  . 

This  analysis  of  true  greatness  shows  how  utterly 
men  have  misjudged  in  locating  the  power  of  elo- 
quence, and  also  how  entirely  they  have  deceived 
themselves  in  the  constituent  elements  of  great- 
ness. Not  in  kingly  authority,  in  martial  achieve- 
ment, or  in  aesthetic  skill,  but  in  those  two  manly 
elements — the  power  of  the  intellect  and  the  good- 
^ ness  of  the  heart.  That  alone  may  have  a bewitch- 
ing glitter,  but  it  would  be  the  moon-beam  on  the 
iceberg.  But  when  the  intellect  is  bathed  in  good- 
ness its  enchanting  moonlight  is  vitalized  into  the 
life-giving  noon-beam.  Of  the  instances  in  which 
this  has  been  exemplified  time  will  not  allow  me  to 
speak;  many  are  found  out  of  that  bright  array  of 
orators,  the  echo  of  whose  voices  is  the  oracle  of 
ages.  Of  those  found  in  other  elevated  walks,  let 
Newton  and  Herschel  be  specimens.  Their  home 


A BACCALAUBEATE  ADDBESS. 


271 


was  in  the  starry  worlds,  and  having^  detected  their 
hidden  laws,  they  looked  back  upon  the  generations 
above  which  they  had  towered,  and  called  on  them 
for  new  praises  to  the  builder  of  the  universe. 

Finally,  let  us  take  a manly  view  of  our  endur- 
ing relations  to  the  universe — of  our  nature,  of  our 
duty,  and  of  our  destiny.  Our  powers,  which  once 
glowed  with  an  awful  brightness  from  the  impress 
of  Jehovah's  image  upon  them,  though  they  have 
since  endured  the  blight  of  sin,  are  now  restored  by 
God  the  Word,  who  made  our  nature  his  chosen 
vestment.  The  stroke  of  guilt  had  blinded  us  to 
the  grandeur  of  our  own  being.  A few  elapses 
from  eternity  tend  to  restore  our  vision.  When 
our  brother  Elijah  rolled  his  chariot  of  flame 
through  the  opened  heavens  to  join  the  white-robed 
worshipers,  a glimpse  was  had  of  human  destiny. 
More  fully  was  this  disclosed  when  our  Elder 
Brother  allied  himself  to  our  nature,  to  elevate, 
honor,  and  glorify  it,  and  with  his  own  hand  to 
unbar  the  everlasting  doors  before  it.  Were  our 
nature  not  such  that  the  chord  which  vibrates 
through  the  heavenly  family  thrills  the  human 
spirit — were  it  merel}^  physical,  then  ought  it  to 
cling  to  earth  with  exhaustless  tenacity.  But  being 
winged  for  endless  flight,  we  should  seize  with  a 
more  than  death-grasp  on  kindred  objects.  Though 
man's  duty  addresses  him  on  as  many  sides  as  he 
sustains  relations — though  he  has  as  many  natures 
as  there  are  worlds  to  which  he  is  related — should 


272 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


the  lowest  absorb  the  highest? — should  the  spirit- 
ual entomb  itself  in  the  material  ? — the  angel  in 
the  brute?  Is  it  manly  to  turn  coldly  away  from 
the  great  redemption  of  our  double  nature? — from 
what  had  birth  among  the  Trinity  in  council? — 
that  which  the  everlasting  voice  has  eulogized  as 
the  fullness  of  the  Father’s  grace,  the  brightness  of 
the  Son’s  glory,  the  plenitude  of  the  Spirit’s  en- 
ergy?— that  mighty  scheme  into  which  angels’  eyes 
were  strained  to  pierce  ? — that  which  forms  a belt  of 
love  around  the  ransomed  race? — is  it  manly  to  al- 
4ow  the  bright  morning  of  life  to  be  shrouded  by 
the  clouds  of  care  and  guilt  before  this  unmatched 
provision  is  secured? 

As  we  have  now  reached  the  point  where  our 
ways  divide,  let  us  choose  the  course  which  shall 
reunite  us  amid  the  greetings  of  ransomed  humanity. 


XIII. 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW: 

A LECTURE  DELIVERED  BY  REQUEST  TO  THE  STUDENTS 
OF  THE  GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  1858. 


Young  Gentlemen, — In  accordance  with  your 
urgent  request,  I have  briefly  reviewed  an  article 
in  the  Westminster  Review,  in  the  volume  for  the 
present  year,  (1858,)  and  now  propose  to  submit  to 
you  the  results  of  that  examination  in  the  form  of 
a lecture.  The  article  in  question  alleges  ^Ghe  weak- 
ness and  failure  of  Protestantism'' 

Through  the  early  history  of  that  quarterly  the 
reviews^  it  contained  were  rather  occult  than  pal- 
pable. The  blow  aimed  at  Christianity  was  in- 
tended to  be  fatal,  but  the  hand  that  dealt  it  was 
sought  to  be  concealed.  But  the  courage  of  con- 
tributors having  greatly  improved,  the  mask  is  now 
removed,  and  open  hostility  is  broadly  maintained. 
Of  this  you  will  require  no  other  proof  than  the 
passages  in  the  present  article,  on  which  I shall 
now  proceed  to  animadvert.  In  the  course  of  these 
strictures  attention  will  be  directed  both  to  the 
facts  and  arguments  employed  by  the  reviewer. 


274 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


In  the  special  pleading  of  this  review,  we  find 
opposite  facts  ignored,  vanquished  objections  reas- 
serted, fallacious  arguments  combined  anew,  and 
abandoned  positions  confidently  resumed.  The  very 
reverse  of  the  proposition  that  Protestantism  is  de- 
caying is  notoriously  true.  The  evidence  of  it  lies 
so  entirely  within  the  common  intelligence  that  it 
certainly  should  not  have  escaped  the  reviewer.  Is 
it  not  palpable  that  Protestantism  is  perpetually  ex- 
tending its  area  by  civic  conquest  over  the  Western 
continent;  that  it  is  recovering  its  lost  theological 
ground  in  Central  Europe;  that  never  before  was 
it  so  earnestly  preparing  to  enlarge  its  missionary 
movements,  which  will  be  sustained  by  a predomin- 
ating Protestant  civilization;  that  no  continent  on 
the  globe  lies  beyond  the  field  of  its  operations? 
Recently  the  very  heart  of  Africa,  having  been  ex- 
plored, has  evolved  facilities  for  this  evangelizing 
enterprise.  Asia,  having  removed  the  bar  to  the 
ingress  of  Western  mind,  has  become  accessible  to 
the  Gospel.  The  spirit  of  the  century  has  been 
silently  moving  on  the  European  continent  with 
such  potency  as  to  enlarge  the  bounds  of  religious 
toleration;  and  on  our  own  continent  Protestantism 
is  enlarging  its . bounds  commensurate  with  the  ex- 
pansion of  our  civilization. 

The  gloomy  prophecy  of  the  downfall  of  Protest- 
antism, in  the  face  of  all  these  facts,  must  argue  in 
the  prophet  something  worse  than  ^^a  pure  heroical 
defect  of  thought.’’  Never  before  did  it  develop 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  275 

such  elements  of  strength,  and  tower  with  such 
majesty  amid  the  decay  and  ruins  of  all  sorts  of 
antagonisms.  When  did  it  ever  antagonize  so  suc- 
cessfully with  Popery,  with  heathenism,  or  with 
infidelity?  How  can  the  relative  strength  of  Prot- 
estantism now  be  compared  with  itself  eighty  years 
ago,  without  perceiving  its  stupendous  advancement 
on  this  continent  ? Then  our  great  educational 
centers  — such  as  Yale  — had  almost  totally  gone 
over  to  infidelity,  and  many  of  the  leading  minds 
of  the  Revolution  had  renounced  the  oracles  of 
God;  now  our  centers  of  learning  are  instruments 
of  Christianity — auxiliaries  to  the  pulpit — and  the 
power  of  Christian  agency  has  been  multiplied  a 
hundredfold  by  our  benevolent  institutions.  Which 
of  these  elements  of  power  has  infidelity  been  able 
permanently  to  ally  to  its  interests?  The  utter 
want  of  all  kindredship  has  rendered  every  attempt 
at  this  a rope  of  sand.  It  has  not  allied  to  it  on 
the  whole  continent  one  great  educational  organ, 
nor  a single  periodical  invested  with  power  sufll- 
cient  to  command  public  respect;  its  strongest  or- 
ganizations dare  not  face  the  light  of  day.  The 
fact  speaks  volumes,  that,  wherever  it  exists  among 
us,  it  is  compelled  to  assume  a religious  guise;  it 
occupies  a Christian  pulpit,  not  a pantheistic  ros- 
trum ; it  asserts  some  high  moral  aims  to  give 
popularity  to  the  brutal  destiny  it  assigns  to  man; 
it  turns  advocate  of  temperance,  of  universal  suf- 
frage, of  human  rights,  and  the  like,  and  thus 


276 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


gathers  around  it  a tolerating  public.  This  state- 
ment, susceptible  of  the  largest  illustration,  is 
exemplified  by  Parker,  Emerson,  and  coadjutors. 
And,  indeed,  despite  of  these  cunning  expedients, 
a wane  irresistibly  comes  upon  the  disk  of  these 
brightest  luminaries,  demonstrating  to  all  men  that 
blank  materialism  or  avowed  atheism  in  any  form 
can  not  retain  patronage  by  all  the  aid  derived 
from  these  popular  topics;  nor  could  it  endure  the 
test  of  experiment  when  it  came  in  the  alluring 
form  of  scientific  socialism.  Never  has  it  made  the 
oft-repeated  attempt  without  the  same  fatal  result, 
though  the  experiment  has  been  conducted  by  mon- 
arch minds,  and  amid  the  concurrence  of  the  most 
flattering  circumstances. 

These  are  but  shreds  of  that  stupendous  system 
of  proofs  which  show  that  the  elements  of  our  na- 
ture preclude  the  possibility  of  self-sustaining  infi- 
delity, and  furnish  an  a priori  argument  for  the 
permanent  advance  and  everlasting  stability  of 
Christianity.  But  our  adroit  reviewer  impugns 
Protestantism  in  the  very  records  on  which  it  re- 
poses. He  complains  that  the  Gospels  consist,  in 
part,  of  gross  superstitions  brought  by  the  Jews 
from  Babylon,  and  from  other  pagan  sources.  He 
instances  the  doctrine  of  demoniacal  possession;'' 
but  with  great  leniency  he  acquits  the  sacred  writ- 
ers of  evil  design,  as  they  only  accommodated 
their  dialect  to  the  apprehension  of  the  ignorant, 
and  made  no  substantial  error."  Beyond  all  doubt, 


A.  EEVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  277 

/ 

these  evangelists  needed  some  apology  if,  as  he  al- 
leges, they  ascribed  to  personal  agents — to  devils — 
that  which  belongs  to  mere  disease.  These  writers 
record  the  speeches,  the  expressed  preferences,  and 
personal  acts  of  these  ejected  demons.  Christ  him- 
self claimed  to  cast  them  out  ^^by  the  finger  of 
God,’’  expressly  recognizing  their  personal  charac- 
ter. He  both  addressed  them  and  was  addressed 
by  them.  Before  entering  into  the  swine  they  im- 
plored his  permission  to  do  so.  Christ  granted 
their  petition,  and  the  sequel  is  recorded.  What 
perversion  could  be  more  egregious  than  to  predi- 
cate these  personal  words  and  acts  of  mere  disease? 
'^That  many  well-informed  divines  are  ashamed  of 
the  Bible  doctrine  of  devils,”  the  reviewer  may 
truthfully  assert;  but  what  does  this  prove?  Not 
that  the  doctrine  is  untrue,  or  that  interpretative 
rules  of  boundless  license  should  be  invented  by 
which  to  dispose  of  it;  but  simply  that  some  pro- 
fessed divines  are  rationalists,  and  have  sagacity  to 
reject  from  God’s  Word  whatever  lies  beyond  the 
vast  range  of  their  own  philosophy.  Would  not 
the  same  kind  of  hermeneutics  that  authorize  men 
to  laugh  at  demoniacal  possession  embolden  them 
to  reject  from  the  Bible  every  trace  of  the  super- 
natural ? 

Nor  is  our  reviewer  less  stumbled  by  the  ac- 
count of  tongues  given  in  the  Acts,  and  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  These,”  he  says, 
were  no  languages,  but  gibberish — as  used  by 


278 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


Irving  and  his  congregation — which  St.  Paul  most 
probably  felt  to  be  nonsensical,  unworthy,  and  gro- 
tesque; which  he  desired  to  repress,  but  did  not 
dare  to  forbid.”  (p.  81.)  After  this  statement  it  is 
.not  a little  surprising  to  hear  the  same  writer,  on 
the  same  page,  maintain  that  these  mysterious, 
unintelligible  utterances  were  the  same  which  the 
apostles  and  early  Christians  looked  upon  as  effects 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.”  What,  did  this  far-seeing 
man  regard  them  at  the  same  time  both  nonsensical 
and  effects  of  the  Holy  Spirit!”  Had  he,  then, 
consecrated  his  lofty  powers  forever  to  the  guidance 
of  that  Spirit  whose  effects  were  nonsensical  ? 
Thus,  to  villify  the  miraculous  character  of  Chris- 
tianity, our  sage  reviewer  dares  to  stultify  the 
most  splendid  mind  of  the  age.  This  master-mind 
in  the  Christian  movement  undoubtedly  regarded 
speaking  with  tongues  among  the  Corinthians  ^^of 
the  same  Spirit  as  the  other  miraculous  gifts  enu- 
merated in  his  letter  to  them;”  but  not  quite  as 
identical  with  nonsense  and  burlesque.” 

Another  evidence  which  our  reviewer  finds  of 
the  sinking  fortunes  of  Protestantism,  ^^is  the  late 
abandonment  of  the  old  ground  on  which  it  was  sup- 
ported.” (p.  82.)  ^^He  reminds  us  that  from  thirty 
to  thirty-five  years  ago  Paley’s  doctrine  of  the 
Christian  evidence  was  dominant  in  both  Universi- 
ties, and  was  received  alike  by  High  and  Low 
Church ;”  then  recording  a long  list  of  learned 
bishops  and  eminent  scholars,  who  believed  by 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  279 

invoking  historic  evidence  they  could  acquire  the  as- 
sent of  every  intelligent  mind  to  the  Christian  doc- 
trine.’' And  let  us  demand  why  could  they  not? 
To  this  we  have  the  astounding  answer,  that  ^^a  re- 
action has  taken  place  by  two  young  men  in  Ox- 
ford— Pusey  and  Newman.”  So  the  Komanism  of 
these  two  High  Churchmen  has  neutralized  the  en- 
tire mass  of  historic  evidence  which  has  been  the 
accumulation  of  ages,  and  in  whose  validity  the 
mightiest  minds  have  concurred.  But  why  did  the 
reviewer  restrict  his  authorities  to  these  two  Oxford 
apostates  ? Had  not  powerful  Eomanists  advocated 
substantially  their  views  ages  before  they  were 
born?  How  can  the  claimed  infallibility  of  the 
universal  Church,  or  the  spiritual  insight  of  the  fa- 
vored individual  mind,  subvert  historic  evidence,  or 
show  that  the  facts  of  Christianity  are  unsuscep- 
tible of  evidence,  or  that  they  are  not  significant  of 
all  that  they  have  been  supposed  to  imply  ? Can 
these  historic  verities,  which  have  withstood  the 
floods  and  storms  of  ages,  be  uprooted  by  that 
small  party  of  Germanized  Puseyites  ? But  feeling 
not  quite  secure  in  this  position,  the  reviewer 
has  found  a stronger  reason  for  the  inevita-ble  down- 
fall of  Protestantism;  this  ^Gs  in  the  atheistic  tend- 
encies of  science y His  language  is  this,  (p.  83 :) 
Precisely  because  theologians  will  not  consider 
first  principles,  . . . therefore  it  is  that  sci- 

ence tends  to  become  atheistic.”  Had  this  charge 

specified  the  first  principles,  whose  reconsideration 

24 


280 


LECTUBES  AND  ADBBESSES. 


theologians  have  declined,  its  refutation  would  have 
been  facile.  We  demand  of  him  what  first  prin- 
ciple have  they  failed  to  reconsider  ? Which  of  the 
primary  intuitions  of  the  mind  has  not  recently 
been  investigated  by  M’Cosh  and  others?  When 
has  the  causal  principle  in  all  its  bearings  been 
more  thoroughly  sifted? 

The  pens  have  just  dropped  from  the  hands  of 
four  English  writers  who  have  furnished  as  many 
volumes  on  theism,  who  in  several  instances  have 
gone  down  to  the  very  roots  of  thought.  In  Ger- 
many more  than  a hundred  volumes  have  been  de- 
voted to  this  discussion  within  our  own  age,  and  in 
other  parts  of  Europe  the  first  principles  involved 
in  the  subject  have  been  analyzed  and  examined  de 
7iovo»  It  is  certainly  not  unknown  to  the  deep 
reader  that  the  improvements  in  psychology  for  the 
last  half  century  have  made  first  principles  the 
matter  of  discussion  by  the  best  minds  in  Christen- 
dom. The  reviewer's  assertion  must,  therefore,  be 
deemed  entirely  gratuitous.  But  he  aims  a blow 
directly  at  the  divine  authority  of  Eevelation  in 
this  language,  (p.  84:)  Nothing  more  can  be  meant 
by  an  authoritative,  infallible  Bible  than  to  dese- 
crate, in  comparison  to  it,  all  the  ordinary  modes  of 
learning  truth,  and  duty,  and  rights."  We  may 
well  doubt  whether  a grosser  misstatement  is  con- 
ceivable. How  can  the  acknowledged  authority  of 
the  Bible  restrict  our  researches  in  the  vast  terri- 
tory of  truth  and  duty?  Does  not  that  sacred 


A EEVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  281 

book  every-where  recognize  our  previous  knowledge 
of  many  truths?  Does  it  not  implicitly  direct  us 
to  continue  our  researches  beyond  its  own  pages — 
to  prove  all  things,  and  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good.  Did  not  this  inspired  direction  extend  to 
what  is  out  of  the  Bible  it  would  involve  the  ab- 
surdity of  supposing  what  was  not  good  is  contained 
in  the  Bible.  But  it  was  convenient  to  our  reviewer 
to  ignore  this,  and  to  apply  to  the  whole  range  of  all 
accessible  truth  what  was  merely  applicable  to  the 
most  positive  precepts.  But  this  is  merely  a ran- 
dom specimen  of  those  fallacies  which  this  argument 
so  freely  employs.  Because  disclosure  of  otherwise 
unknowable  truth  is  authoritative,  how  can  that 
preclude  all  other  modes  of  acquiring  truth,  or  dis- 
parage what  is  found  elsewhere?  Have  these  ob- 
jectors to  an  authoritative  Bible  yet  to  learn  that 
it  appertains  to  the  very  essence  of  its  teachings  to 
quicken  research  both  within  and  without  its  own 
precincts.  Is  it  unknown  to  them  that  this  a priori 
truth  is  corroborated  by  the  history  of  all  Bible 
lands.  The  very  reverse  of  the  objections,  therefore, 
is  the  well-accredited  truth. 

But  on  the  next  page  (85)  a still  more  fatal 
thrust  is  made  at  revealed  religion.  ^^The  world,” 
says  he,  ^^has  yet  to  wait  for  a religion  which  shall 
grow  stronger  and  stronger  with  every  development 
of  sound  scientific  acquirement.”  We  concede  that 
^Hrue  religion  can  not  but  strike  its  roots  deeper 
with  the  cultivation  of  mind  and  increase  of  wis- 


282 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


dom/’  and  this  we  affirm  is  the  very  thing  which 
Protestant  Christianity  accomplishes.  If  the  oppo- 
site be  ever  apparent  the  result  is  not  legitimate, 
but  is  despite  of  the  inborn  tendency.  The  reviewer 
in  this  case,  as  in  others,  makes  the  effect  of  one 
element  of  the  cause  the  exponent  of  the  whole 
cause  consisting  of  many  elements.  He  has  occa- 
sionally witnessed  the  decay  of  religion  before  the 
advance  of  science,  and  now  suddenly  rushes  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  two  are  out  of  harmony — that 
the  twilight  of  religion  shrinks  away  before  the 
meridian  splendor  of  science.  Because  growing  sci- 
ence has  been  known  to  induce  infidelity  in  commu- 
nities long  shrouded  in  the  gloom  of  superstition, 
how  can  it  verify  the  conclusion  that  science  van- 
quishes Christianity?  It  vanquishes  superstition; 
but  this  is  the  foe  of  Christianity:  that  which  puts 
it  to  flight  is,  therefore,  the  ally  of  Christianity. 
Let  every  social  force  be  removed  from  a Christian 
community  but  sciencej  then  can  you  fairly  test  the 
alleged  repugnancy  of  the  one  to  the  other.  Such 
an  experiment  would  disclose  the  eternal  harmony 
between  them;  it  would  be  seen  that  the  world  has 
not  to  wait  for  such  a religion,  but  that  it  de- 
scended among  men  when  the  Sun  of  eternity  arose 
on  time. 

In  the  course  of  his  discussion  this  reviewer 
reaches  the  joyful  conclusion  that  Protestantism — 
that  is,  Christianity — has  no  future,”  (p.  84).  The 
astounding  disappearance  of  this  great  agency  which 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMlllSTER  REVIEW.  283 

has  swayed  enlightened  nations  for  almost  twenty 
centuries,  should  be  proclaimed  by  unmistakable 
events.  What,  then,  is  the  unequivocal  precursor 
of  this  great  revolution?  The  first  demonstration 
is  in  the  alleged  fact  that  few  distinguished 
writers  fail  to  be  understood.’'  But  what  proof 
does  this  contain  that  Christianity  has  finished  its 
weary  course  and  must  now  lie  down  in  death? 
As  another  evidence  it  is  alleged  that  ^^no  writer 
of  name  will  hazard  his  reputation  by  writing  on 
the  Trinity,  or  producing  any  extended  work  on  the 
Atonement."  The  asserter  of  these  propositions  is, 
indeed,  a man  of  courage.  No  ordinary  hardihood 
would  have  sufficed  to  venture  the  assertion.  Could 
it  be  unknown  to  him  that  some  of  the  deepest 
thinkers  of  the  age  have  just  laid  down  their  pens 
after  the  completion  of  the  most  elaborate  works  on 
both  these  subjects? 

But  before  advancing  to  other  topics  in  the  re- 
view, let  us  retrospect  an  earlier  page,  (75,)  where  he 
states,  that  under  the  measure  of  mental  freedom 
which  the  great  revolution  against  Charles  I brought 
in,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  growing  indifference  to  re- 
ligion in  France  and  elsewhere,  physical  science  has 
in  the  two  last  centuries  grown  up."  Our  reviewer 
here,  as  elsewhere,  betrays  special  fondness  for  this 
wholesale  kind  of  assertion.  Indeed,  it  is  the  only 
mode  by  which  the  materials  at  his  command  can 
be  made  to  serve  his  cause.  There  are  two  stated 
facts  here,  that  are  so  far  untrue  as  to  render  the 


284  LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

little  which  is  true  inapplicable.  It  is  not  a fact 
that  a growing  indifference  to  religion  for  the  last 
two  centuries  in  France,  or  in  any  other  part  of 
Christendom,  prevailed.  Nor  is  it  true  that  physical 
science  had  the  most  rapid  advance  in  that  portion 
of  this  period  when  religion  was  most  declining. 
The  reverse  is  true,  as  they  have  both  most  ad- 
vanced at  the  same  period.  This  may  be  asserted, 
with  the  deepest  emphasis,  of  our  own  half  century. 
Within  these  fifty  years  the  whole  French  nation 
have  retraced  with  sadness  their  steps  of  departure 
from  Christianity,  returning  to  its  fold.  Nor  is  this 
untrue  of  large  portions  of  other  European  nations. 
That  within  the  same  period  the  pulse  of  Protest- 
antism has  throbbed  with  unwonted  vigor  a thou- 
sand facts  proclaim.  Now  that  this  same  period, 
more  than  any  other  on  the  records  of  man,  has 
witnessed  the  triumphs  of  physical  science,  is  too 
notorious  to  admit  of  formal  proof.  Nothing,  there- 
fore, can  be  needful  but  a just  classification  of  times 
and  events,  mentioned  by  the  reviewer,  to  demon- 
strate his  absolute  falsity.  Because  religion  declined 
at  one  period  of  the  two  centuries,  and  science  ad- 
vanced during  another  period,  what  causal  relation 
can  be  inferred  between  the  decline  of  religion  and 
the  revival  of  science  ? Thus  the  whole  force  of  his 
pompous  statement  is  derived  from  the  confusion  of 
dates. 

But  feeling  that  the  whole  strength  of  the  Chris- 
tian cause  lay  in  the  truth  of  its  Founder’s  death 


/ 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  285 

and  resurrection,  our  reviewer  has  put  forth  all  his 
strength  to  call  these  great  facts  in  question,  (pp. 
78-80.)  As  to  the  time  Christ  hung  on  the  cross 
the  reviewer  finds  ^Hhe  narrators  at  variance. 
Mark  (xv,  26-34)  distinctly  states  that  Jesus  was 
crucified  at  the  third  hour  and  died  at  the  ninth 
hour.”  ^^John  as  expressly  tells  us  that  he  was 
not  yet  crucified  at  the  sixth  hour;  (xix,  14;) 
that  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour  when  they  cried 
out.  Crucify  him!”  To  bring  the  Sacred  Eecord  to 
the  utmost  extent  into  discredit,  he  makes  the  most 
of  the  differences  of  commentators  on  the  discrepan- 
cies, and  even  calls  in  Strauss  to  his  aid,  who  re- 
gards the  account  of  John  to  be  a mythical  addi- 
tion.” Did  not  the  reviewer  know  that  the  two 
modes  of  reckoning  time  in  this  nation  entirely  har- 
monize these  apparent  discrepancies? — that  they  di- 
vided the  night  into  four  periods,  each  containing 
three  hours,  and  that  the  same  division  obtained  of 
the  day — the  first  three-hours’  period  commencing 
at  sunrise,  the  second  at  nine,  the  third  at  noon, 
the  fourth  at  three?  The  other  mode  of  division 
was  into  single  hours,  commencing  at  sunrise. 
Christ  having  been  fastened  to  the  cross  soon  after 
midday,  John’s  sixth  hour  would  correspond  to 
Mark’s  third  hour.  About  the  sixth  hour  of  the 
one  and  about  the  third  hour  of  the  other  are  pre- 
cisely the  same  period.  But  our  reviewer’s  purpose 
could  be  served  only  by  ignoring  these  obvious 
means  of  harmonizing  these  evangelists.  But  from 


286 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


this  he  proceeds  v/ith  great  adroitness  to  cast  doubt 
on  the  reality  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection, 
putting  forth  all  his  strength  to  bring  into  doubt 
these  two  great  facts.  To  give  plausibility  to  the 
denial  of  Christ's  death,  he  assigns  to  Pilate  a spe- 
cial part  to  act  in  the  affair,  (p.  79,)  and  supposes 
^Hhe  Governor  secretly  ordered  the  soldiers  to  re- 
move Jesus  from  the  cross  so  soon  as  he  appeared 
to  faint,  and  deliver  him  to  his  friends" — ^Hhat 
on  this  account  they  refrained  from  breaking  his 
legs;  that  John  unwittingly  suggests  that  Christ 
was  not  dead,  by  stating  that  when  they  were  about 
to  take  him  down  a soldier  pierced  his  side,  out  of 
which  blood  and  water  issued ; that  he  was  not 
buried  where  suffocation  would  take  place,  but 
where  he  might  receive  surgical  treatment  and  cor- 
dials." Was  there  ever  a series  of  statements  more 
perfectly  imaginary  ! Ought  not  the  reviewer  to 
feel  that  some  sort  of  evidence  would  be  demanded 
for  allegations  so  utterly  gratuitous ; that  some 
kind  or  degree  of  proof,  mediate  or  direct,  should 
at  least  give  them  plausibility  ? But  where  is 
there  a shadow  of  evidence  that  Pilate  made  the 
slightest  movement  toward  the  rescue  of  Christ's 
life  after  he  surrendered  him  for  crucifixion?  In- 
deed, there  is  evidence  directly  against  it.  Had  a 
collusion  existed  between  the  Governor  and  his  offi- 
cers to  prevent  the  death  of  Christ,  would  he  have 
surrendered  him  to  the  custody  of  his  crucifiers? — 
would  he  have  directed  them  to  make  his  tomb 


A REVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  287 

sure  by  filling  its  entrance  with  a large  stone,  seal- 
ing it  so  as  to  make  its  removal  death? — would  he 
have  directed  to  surround  it  day  and  night  by  a 
perpetual  watch,  whose  want  of  fidelity  would  have 
been  fatal  to  themselves?  When  the  entire  nation 
was  shaken  to  its  center  by  the  reported  resurrec- 
tion, would  not  the  secret  that  the  Government  had 
conspired  to  prevent  his  death  have  leaked  out? 
But  the  reviewer  imagines  that  he  finds  proof  that 
Christ  did  not  die  on  the  cross,  in  the  fact  that 
blood  flowed  from  his  pierced  side.  He  quotes  Ori- 
gen,  Euthimeus,  and  several  of  the  Fathers,  to 
prove  that  blood  would  not  flow  from  a dead  body 
'Ghough  it  were  pierced  a thousand  times.”  But 
our  reviewer,  too  timid  to  confide  iii  the  physiology 
of  the  early  fathers,  and  too  poor  in  material  for 
proof  to  do  without  it,  he  adduces  it  that  it  may 
seem  to  avail;  hence,  after  he  resigned  it,  he  still 
clings  to  it,  observing,  ^^We  are  too  well  aware  of 
the  delicacy^ of  these  physiological  questions  to 
speak  so  confidently  ourselves.”  Why,  then,  speak 
of  them  at  all?  Did  he  not  know  there  was  not  a 
shadow  of  truth  in  the  allegation  ? He  adds,  The 
flow  of  blood  is  most  easily  accounted  for  by  sup- 
posing the  circulation  to  be  still  active.”  But  what 
has  this  to  do  with  the  impossibility  of  its  flowing 
after  death  ? Indeed,  the  question  has  been  determ- 
ined by  the  test  of  repeated  mperiment,  and  the 
result  should  extort  from  the  reviewer  the  most 
humbling  concession.  Nor  is  Christ's  death  by 


288- 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


crucifixion  rendered  doubtful  by  the  instance  of  the 
surviving  nun's  crucifixion.  Quoting  from  Dr.  Me- 
rand,  he  says  of  the  two  nuns,  one  of  them  affirmed 
that  to  be  the  twenty-first  time  she  had  been  volun- 
tarily crucified.  Because  life  does  not  become  ex- 
tinct by  being  repeatedly  fastened  to'  a cross  and 
immediately  removed  from  it,  does  it  prove  that 
Christ,  after  hanging  there  three  hours,  and  being 
pierced  to  the  heart  by  a spear,  was  still  alive? 
Were  there  truth  in  our  reviewer's  strange  hypoth- 
esis, how  could  the  scores  of  predictions  involving 
Christ's  death  be  disposed  of?  What  possible  solu- 
tion would  remain  of  the  moral  and  physical  phe- 
nomena at  the  crucifixion?  Nothing  but  the  fact 
of  his  death,  involving  its  supernatural  aim,  could 
account  for  his  intense  sorrow  in  the  garden,  the 
overwhelming  agonies  of  the  cross,  the  rending  of 
the  Temple  vail,  the  three  hours  of  total  darkness, 
the  quakings  of  the  earth,  and  the  rising  of  the 
dead  saints.  Did  all  these — the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  the  living  and  the  dead — conspire  to  set  their 
terrific  seal  to  the  chicanery  of  the  Governor ! In 
the  light  of  all  this  mighty  attestation,  how  puer- 
ile must  appear  all  the  carping  of  the  reviewer ! 
Indeed,  were  his  position  tenable,  the  whole  scheme 
of  the  New  Testament  would  form  a grand  impos- 
ture. Its  sublimest  motives  being  drawn  from  the 
Eestorer's  death,  that  is  the  stupendous  center 
about  which  all  the  doctrines  and  events  of  tlie 
scheme  circle. 


A EEVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  289 

To  invent  a hypothesis^  therefore,  showing  the 
unreality  of  Christ  s death,  is  only  the  inception 
of  a herculean  task  of  subverting  the  best-estab- 
lished system  of  truth  ever  transmitted  by  human 
records.  A solution  must  be  given  of  all  Christ's 
other  miracles,  which,  like  so  many  match-fires, 
blazed  in  every  city  in  the  nation;  of  all  those 
of  his  apostles  wrought  in  their  risen  Master’s 
name;  and  a solution  of  that  stupendous  moral 
revolution  which  consumed  by  the  fires  of  Pente- 
cost the  superstitions  of  a hundred  ages.  But 
could  this  mighty  overthrow  be  accomplished,  still 
the  deep  yearnings  of  our  moral  nature  would  con- 
tinue to  demand  another  scheme,  replenished  with 
every  essential  provision  of  this,  so  that  the  re- 
viewer’s work  is  only  completed  when  he  has  de- 
molished the  moral  powers  that  invest  our  deathless 
nature. 

But  we  shall  dismiss  our  reviewer  after  a single 
glance  at  one  more  topic;  namely,  the  resurrection 
of  Christ.  He  seeks  to  neutralize  the  testimony  of 
the  witness  as  to  this  great  fact  by  affirming  the 
ethereal  nature  of  Christ’s  resurrection  body.  To 
this  end  was  perverted  the  language  of  St.  Peter, 
where  he  says  Christ  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh, 
but  quickened  by  the  Spirit;  making  this  language 
mean  that  he  was  raised  from  the  dead  in  a spirit- 
ual, invisible  body.  How  can  such  a meaning  be 
extorted  from  this  text,  which  so  palpably  has  a 
very  different  application,  simply  meaning  that  the 


290 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


Spirit/s  agency  raised  Christ's  body  from  the  dead? 
How  could  the  reviewer  honestly  thus  confound  the 
manner  of  raising  Christ’s  body  with  the  nature 
of  that  body  itself?  But  this  is  done  not  merely 
without  evidence,  but  in  the  face  of  evidence.  Did 
not  the  risen  Savior  claim  to  have  the  very  body 
in  which  he  was  crucified?  Did  he  not  put  this 
claim  to  the  test  of  his  disciples’  senses?  How  un- 
mistakable is  his  language,  Handle  me  and  see, 
for  a spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me 
havef'  What  force,  then,  can  we  award  to  that 
allegation  that  ^Hhe  disciples  could  not  be  witnesses, 
as  they  did  not  know  Christ  by  their  senses,  but 
only  by  the  symbolical  act  of  breaking  bread?” 
Though  we  have  experience  in  the  trustworthiness 
of  the  senses  to  recognize  ordinary  bodies,  we  have 
no  such  experience  to  identify  an  ethereal,  glorified 
body  with  one  that  was  once  a human  body.  And 
what  Christian  ever  pretended  that  we  have,  or 
that  it  was  ever  needed  to  identify  Christ’s  risen 
body  ? The  reviewer  first  created  the  difficulty, 
and  then  stumbles  at  his  own  origination.  He 
feigns  the  evidence  of  this  partly  in  the  disciples 
being  unable  to  recognize  him,  and  partly  ^^in  his 
vanishing  out  of  their  sight,  and  suddenly  coming 
to  them  through  walls  and  doors.”  But  where  is 
there  a glimpse  of  evidence  that  Christ  ever  passed 
through  a solid  wall?  His  sudden  appearance  to 
his  disciples,  the  doors  being  shut,  may  not  be 
equivalent  to  his  passing  through  them  in  that 

I 


A BEVIEW  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  REVIEW.  291 

state.  Why  should  an  ethereal  body  be  more 
necessary  to  pass  through  a shut  door  than  to 
work  any  of  his  miracles  prior  to  his  death?  This 
ethereal  theory  is  not  among  those  innocent  specu- 
lations with  which  fancy  may  decorate  revealed 
truth ; it  aims  at  the  utter  subversion  of  that 
truth.  By  making  Christs  body  unsubstantial, 
it  directly  contradicts  Christs  assertion  that  ^Ct 
was  flesh  and  honest  It  assumes  that  his  body 
did  not  address  his  disciples’  senses;  Christ  affirms 
that  it  did.  It  proclaims  the  apostles  incompetent 
to  identify  as  a fact  Christ’s  risen  body;  Christ 
ordered  them  to  be  his  witnesses  to  all  nations  of 
that  fact.  Indeed,  St.  Paul,  by  one  sweeping  argu- 
ment, suspends  the  whole  Christian  system  on  the 
reality  of  this  one  grand  fact.  (1  Cor.  xv.)  His 
enumeration  of  the  witnesses — his  inference  from 
their  united  testimony — all  assumed  that  the  resur- 
rection body  addressed  men’s  senses. 

After  the  repeated  refutation  of  the  older  argu- 
ment denying  the  competency  of  testimonial  evidence 
to  authenticate-  a miracle,  oUr  reviewer  deemed  it 
less  hazardous  to  accomplish  the  same  end  by  trans- 
muting the  subject  of  the  miracle  into  a mere  phan- 
tom. He  is  unanxious  whether,  like  Hume,  he 
neutralizes  the  Christian  witnesses  by  arraying  the 
alleged  testimony  of  all  men  against  theirs,  or  by 
showing  the  worthlessness  of  their  testimony  by 
reason  of  the  ethereal  nature  of  its  subject.  Our 
closing  utterance  should  be  a note  of  warning  to 


292 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


this  whole,  class  of  bold  rejectors.  They  should  be 
premonished  that  their  midnight  task  *is  not  com- 
pleted by  their  plausible  attack  on  any  one  Chris- 
tian fact.  The  system  they  would  subvert  is  vital 
in  every  part;  the  evidences  sustaining  it  are  so 
various  in  sorts,  and  so  stupendous  in  degree,  as 
to  elude  the  most  threatening  blows  which  wit  or 
malice  can  aim  at  it. 


XIY. 


CHARACTER  AS  CONNECTED  WITH  SUCCESS 
IN  THE  SACRED  OFFICE : 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF  THE 
GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  FOR  1859. 


Beloved  Pupils, — Having  now  reached  the  point 
where  our  ways  divide,  it  is  fit  we  should  improve 
the  occasion  by  a few  brief  utterances.  Your  in- 
structors, who  have  accompanied  you  with  intense 
solicitude  through  your  course,  find  this  hour  of 
your  departure  one  at  which  their  solicitude  has 
culminated.  In  harmony  with  the  occasion  permit 
them  through  my  lips  to  make  . a few  suggestions 
on  the  momentous  theme  of  ministerial  character. 
Were  we  seeking  every-where  for  a test  of  minis- 
terial success,  where  could  it  be  found  out  of  char- 
acter? The  appliances  and  particular  processes  by 
which  such  character  is  formed  are  not  now  to  be 
discussed.  The  lights  that  guide  to  these  have  glit- 
tered along  the  successive  footsteps  of  your  now  fin- 
ished course.  What  remains  is  simply  to  advert  to 
character  as  lying  back  of  success  in  the  sacred  ofiice. 

There  can  be  no  manifestation  of  the  minister  to 

293 


294 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


which  noble  character  does  not  bear  a relation  mys- 
teriously cogent.  It  renders  his  speech  living  and 
life-giving;  it  gives  to  words,  those  airy  vibrations, 
a spirit  which  transfigures  them.  Essential  to  the 
development  of  our  own  sanctified  manhood  is 
courage^  which  calmly  faces  danger,  looking  the 
foe  fully  in  the  eye  without  the  palpitation  of  one 
vein.  This  is  a prominent  element  of  that  solidity 
of  purpose,  energy  of  feeling,  and  success  in  achiev- 
ing, which  make  life  a success.  It  legitimately 
flows  from  a well-elaborated  Christian  mind — from  a 
purified  nature  that  is  personal,  ethereal,  immortal, 
self-directing,  responsible — a nature  whose  all-com- 
prehending relation  is  to  Jehovah  its  source.  This 
moral  courage  is  the  spinal  column  sustaining  all 
that  is  noble  and  forcible  in  character.  It  consists 
not  in  indifference  or  in  occasional  bravery;  not  in 
insensibility  to  danger,  but  in  a heroism  to  face  it 
while  scanning  it  with  the  most  vivid  sensitivity. 
This  calm,  life-pervading  spirit  is  ineffably  diverse 
from  that  hasty,  impulsive,  transient  bravery  which 
is  without  inspiration  beyond  an  excited  hour — that 
has  a higher  source  than  the  music  of  the  martial 
field  or  even  the  shouts  of  a nation's  applause;  it 
can  achieve  its  work  in  the  awful  presence  of  soli- 
tude ; it  can  brave  its  sufferings  when  only  God  is 
nigh;  it  can  do  this  under  the  cloud  of  a nation’s 
frown  and  amid  the  fulminations  of  its  iniquitous 
laws.  The  pending  events  of  our  nation,  young 
ministers,  may  soon  demand  of  you  an  exemplifica- 


MINISTERIAL  CHARACTER. 


295 


tion  of  this  virtue,  when  you  may  be  called  to  main- 
tain a dignified  silence— to  be  broken  only  when  the 
crisis  shall  come.  Then  must  your  courage  operate, 
preceded  by  no  vaunting — serene  as  the  Summer 
evening,  firm  as  the  column  of  adamant,  anxious 
only  to  maintain  the  right.  What  characteristic 
has  been  more  prominent  in  the  master-minds  of  the 
race  ? This  has  made  the  Husses,  Luthers,  and 
Keplers  the  heroes  of  successive  ages,  and  the  en- 
during monuments  of  human  greatness.  Every 
grace  of  character  and  of  life  derives  nourishment 
from  this  virtue.  It  generates  that  deep  and  pow- 
erful harmony  on  which  all  melodies  play.  This 
makes  the  preacher  far  more  eloquent  than  his 
words.  This  living  spirit  is  fed  by  communion  with 
the  past — with  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  and  with 
the  living  head  of  the  family  of  the  universe. 

But  this  heroism,  which  makes  him  fearless  in  the 
face  of  the  clamor,  repudiation,  and  penalty  of  per- 
secuting society,  is  allied  to  a sensibility,  tender  as 
a mother's  heart,  and  discriminating  as  the  intuitive 
glance.  Being  thus  armed  with  the  dignity  of 
duty,  the  power  of  unity,  the  pressure  of  demon- 
stration, and  with  the  tenderness  of  unsleeping  sym- 
pathy— being  thus  insphered  in  the  very  mind  of 
God  — the  speaker  is  resistless.  What  hearer  will 
not  love  to  be  mastered  by  him? 

Another  virtue  which  should  shine  in  a preach- 
er’s character  is  sympathy  with  human  life.  The 
cell  of  the  monk,  or  the  solitude  of  the  hermit,  was 


296 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


never  the  appointed  sphere  of  God's  embassadors. 
It  is  theirs  to  come  in  sympathetic  contact  with 
living  society,  to  be  moved  by  its  interests,  prompted 
by  its  inspirations,  and  assimilated  to  its  likeness. 
In  human  life  is  the  mystery  of  God’s  working — the 
hiding  of  his  power.  The  globe  was  created  for  its 
residence,  is  preserved  for  its  culture,  and  will  learn 
to  light  its  grand  assent  to  its  last  ethereal  abode. 
To  be  in  full  sympathy  with  such  a personal  essence 
can  not  fail  to  kindle  a teacher’s  powers,  to  wing 
his  words,  and  to  give  pertinency  and  dignity  to  his 
whole  bearing.  Insensibility  to  this  great  agency 
would  be  treachery  to  our  noblest  instincts,  and 
would  be  untrue  to  the  highest  examples  of  history. 
Allow  me,  young  gentlemen,  to  verify  by  only  a sin- 
gle example — by  that  of  the  great  Restorer.  Who 
was  so  adequate  an  appraiser  of  life  as  he  who  won 
it  back  by  death?  His  sympathy  with  it  was  too 
intense  for  utterance.  Its  mystery  filled  his  person. 
He  knew  its  depth;  his  golden  compass  had  marked 
its  outlimits.  Every-where  he  sought  it  out,  ignor- 
ing every  accidental  distinction.  Let  it  never  escape 
his  ministers  that  the  instincts  of  his  assumed  hu- 
manity identified  him  with  our  nature  in  all  its  sor- 
rowing allotments,  so  that  every  sufferer  found  in 
his  great  heart  a place  for  his  woes.  Is  it  strange 
that  such  a friend  should  win  his  silent  way  to  uni- 
versal confidence?  This  is  the  ^Gyped  man,”  in 
whom  alone  the  real  and  ideal  meet.  Where  but 
in  the  great  Hebrew  student  shall  be  found  his 


MINISTEBIAL  CHABACTEB. 


297 


most  perfect  imitator?  Paul  dived  so  deeply  into 
the  mysteries  of  life  as  to  feel  responsibility  for  the 
moral  rescue  of  universal  humanity — to  be  a debtor 
to  Jew  and  Gentile — to  those  that  had  never  even 
seen  his  care-worn  face. 

The  most  marked  men  of  every  age  have  been 
such  as  have  most  resembled  him  in  this  sympathy; 
they  have  most  deeply  moved  their  own  genera- 
tions, and  have  rolled  the  wave  of  their  elevating 
influence  furthest  into  the  depths  of  the  future.  I 
trust  your  experience  will  inform  you  how  this 
sympathy  matures  into  a heart-hunger  for  the  high- 
est good  of  humanity;  that  it  is  confined  to  no  sin- 
gle mode  of  manifestation,  to  no  one  channel,  but 
that  it  permeates  society,  and  finds  an  avenue  in 
every  connection  of  life.  You  will  then  have  not 
only  admiration  for  greatness,  and  reverence  for 
dignity,  but  compassion  for  the  erring,  and  sorrow 
for  the  bereaved,  and  especially  for  those  on  whose 
foreheads  are  stamped  the  hieroglyphics  of  enduring 
agony. 

But  at  this  point  I must  conjure  you  not  to  mis- 
interpret the  sympathy  we  commend.  It  is  not  a 
soft,  irresolute,  cowardly  spirit,  averse  to  positive 
character,  winking  at  wrong-doing;  its  tenderness 
is  not  exceeded  by  its  magnanimity.  If  it  has  an 
element  of  the  dramatic,  the  poetic,  the  oratorical, 
it  also  contains  a large  infusion  of  the  heroic.  It 
invests  the  speaker  with  a power  never  exerted  by 
the  mere  pressure  of  thought.  Thus  are  you  to  re- 


298 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


gard  this  mysterious  life  of  man  standing  alone  in 
its  majesty  beneath  the  heavens.  It  is  a spark 
from  the  Eternal  Mind — a nature  containing,  germ- 
inantly,  an  endless  history.  As  the  statesman  is 
superior  to  the  State,  and  the  astronomer  sublimer 
than  the  mightiest  orb  he  measures,  so  does  this 
life  of  man  transcend  all  the  events  of  his  career. 

Nor  is  a relish  for  the  (Esthetic  unimportant  to 
the  Christian  teacher.  Without  this  taste  he  can 
not  be  in  harmony  with  the  majestic  and  the  beau- 
tiful ; and  as  art  is  the  interpreter  and  repre- 
sentative of  nature,  to  perceive  beauty  in  the  one 
is  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  other.  Could  you 
walk  out  into  this  palace  of  God  unsmitten  by  its 
decorations,  unthrilled  by  the  glories  investing  it, 
you  would  pronounce  it  unworthy  of  the  matchless 
skill  of  the  Architect.  The  very  habit  of  a minis- 
ter’s thoughts  should  make  his  inmost  soul  respons- 
ive to  the  voiceful  and  inspiring  creation.  Has  he 
no  eye  for  the  multiform  tints  of  nature,  no  ear  for 
the  melody  of  her  harp-like  voices? — then  is  he 
wanting  in  that  sensitivity  which  is  the  highest 
natural  element  of  pulpit  power.  Let  the  model 
minister — the  Great  Teacher  in  this  regard — be 
your  example.  What  scene  in  nature  did  he  not  lay 
under  contribution  to  his  ministry?  ^^He  overlaid 
Palestine  with  the  beauty  of  parable,”  making  its 
matchless  scenes  eloquent  of  his  heavenly  doctrines. 

Unless  this  taste  for  nature  pervades  the  preach- 
er’s spirit  with  its  soft  and  mellowing  sensibility, 


MINISTERIAL  CHARACTER. 


299 


how  can  he  drink  inspiration  from  those  scattered 
lights  which  the  breath  of  God  has  kindled  over  its 
broad  expanse?  But  when  his  eye  sees  its  reveal- 
ments,  when  his  ear  hears  its  mystic  harmonies, 
when  his  soul  drinks  her  divine  nectar'’ — then, 

while  his  books  furnish  themes  and  his  brain  argu- 
ments, the  easy,  majestic  sweep  of  thought  will  well 
up  from  the  deep  bosom  of  nature;  then  will  his 
arguments  resemble  the  arch  of  heaven  in  deriving 
their  beauteous  hues  from  what  floats  beneath  its 
bright  expanse. 

But  to  prevent  undue  extension,  allow  me  to  pass 
abruptly  from  this  topic  to  one  of  still  higher  im- 
portance. I allude  to  that  sympathetic  enthusiasm 
for  truth  with  which  God’s  embassador  should  ever 
glow.  As  truth  is  the  ordained  instrument  for 
man’s  moral  rescue,  its  heralds  should  never  cease 
to  be  bathed  in  its  brightness.  He  should  ally 
himself,  not  to  professional  truth,  but  to  all  truth. 
This  ever  fresh  sensibility  to  truth  both  radiates 
and  invigorates  character.  Not  that  every  class  of 
truth  should  be  investigated  in  an  isolated  manner, 
but  in  its  vital  relation  to  the  great  central  truth 
of  your  profession.  Though  all  truth  does  equally 
illustrate  the  cardinal  principles  of  theology,  yet 
the  remotest  within  the  compass  of  human  thought, 
like  the  most  distant  stars,  shed  forth  their  propor- 
tional light.  The  habits  of  candor,  discrimination, 
and  catholicity  generated  by  this  large  acquaint- 
ance with  truth  are  invaluable.  Though  truth  is 


300 


-LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


various  as  the  unnumbered  relations,  of  mind  and 
matter  in  the  universe,  it  is  still  an  organic  whole ; 
it  is  one  empire  with  many  provinces — one  body 
with  many  members.  In  its  underlying  principles, 
in  its  highest  generalization,  its  unity  resembles 
that  of  the  Godhead.  All  beings,  all  forces,  all 
forms  are  connected  by  its  golden  links.  No  rival- 
ships,  no  antagonisms  can  appertain  to  its  different 
departments.  The  light  emanating  from  all  points 
intensifies  the  brightness  of  each  central  truth. 

Sympathy  with  truth  is  a vital  element,  an  intel- 
lectual grace,  and  a source  of  beauty  and  weight  to 
all  utterances.  You  can  know  only  by  experience 
how  much  it  will  contribute  to  an  accurately-bal- 
ancing judgment,  to  expanding  compass  of  thought, 
to  an  acuteness  in  sifting  analysis,  and  to  the 
depth  of  sensibility.  This  perpetual  growth  of  all 
your  faculties  can  not  fail  to  give  a hidden  charm 
to  every  truth  you  utter,  removing  from  it  all 
that  is  narrow  and  mere  commonplace.  You  need 
not  look  beyond  these  attainments  for  the  source  of 
that  commanding  power  by  which  master-minds 
have  swayed  their  ages.  While  they  looked  back- 
ward through  history,  and  forward  through  phi- 
losophy, they  looked  upward  to  God;  while  their 
thoughts  were  compact  and  their  arguments  sweep- 
ing, their  sympathy  was  glowing,  so  that  the  whole 
sphere  in  which  their  souls  moved  was  a crystal 
concave  'Gighted  with  the  thoughts  of  God.”  This 
you  will  find  to  be  a process  which,  inverting  the 


MINISTERIAL  CHARACTER. 


301 


usual  order,  increases  force  as  the  sphere  is  ex- 
panded in  which  it  operates — diminishing  the  needed 
effort  as  the  labor  to  be  performed  accumulates. 

But  hastening  toward  a conclusion,  I must  detain 
you  only  by  another  general  remark.  It  regards  a 
vital  adherence  to  righteousness.  Am  I right  in 
the  unqualified  assertion  that  none  should  enter  on 
the  sacred  office  without  a consummated  conviction 
that  the  most  clement  form  of  God’s  government  is 
rigidly  just  ? Do  you  demand,  then,  how  so  much 
partiality  can  diversify  the  present  dispensation  to 
the  race  ? The  solution  is  easy ; the  present  is  an 
economy  of  clemency ^ of  forhearancCj  of  test,  which 
could  never  be  endless,  but  must  lose  itself  in  the 
retributive  principles,  in  whose  operations  all  wrongs 
will  be  righted  and  all  inequalities  compensated. 
All  partialities  are,  therefore,  preparatives  to  per- 
fect equity — the  one  has  its  sphere  in  benevolencCj 
the  other  in  eternal  justice.  So  far  as  benevolence 
transcends  justice  it  may  be  partial;  but  should  it 
conflict  with  justice,  every  attribute  of  God  would 
be  arrayed  against  it.  This  principle  of  righteous- 
ness underlies  all  phenomena  and  transcends  all 
formal  enactments.  The  minister,  therefore,  ex- 
pounds and  advocates  a government  which  can 
never  have  pleasure,  happiness,  or  utility  for  its 
supreme  end — which  can  never  employ^hat  policy 
which  places  profit  before  justice,  gain  above  godli- 
ness— which  can  have  no  use  for  the  arts  and  dis- 
guises belonging  to  human  chicanery. 


302 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


For  what  purpose  does  the  pulpit  stand  but  to 
roll  the  thunders  of  justice  against  all  such  insults 
of  justice?  Should  it  fail  to  do  this,  who  can 
fathom  the  depth  of  degradation  which  will  over- 
whelm a coming  age?  It  may  become  your  lot 
to  minister  to  a congregation  which  will  virtually 
prescribe  the  sins  you  should  denounce  by  enjoin- 
ing silence  in  regard  to  others.  You  may  declaim 
against  the  sins  of  the  Jews,  of  the  Pope,  of  here- 
tics, but  not  against  the  falsehood,  the  treachery,  the 
licentiousness  of  our  statesmen,  of  our  party  leaders, 
of  our  domestic  tyrants.  That  mouthpiece  of  Je- 
hovah daring  to  rebuke  these  must  be  put  under  a 
ban.  By  placing  such  restrictions  on  the  pulpit, 
the  crying  sin  of  the  South  has  gained  its  colossal 
proportions.  That  which  God’s  embassadors  dare 
not  denounce  they  will  ultimately  defend.  Such 
has  been  the  case  in  regard  to  the  sum  of  all 
villainies.”  It  first  imposed  silence  on  the  sacred 
desk;  it  then  demanded  support  from  that  very 
Gospel  whose  essence  is  the  golden  rule  — the  mu- 
tual rights  of  all  human  beings.  This  completed 
the  grand  apostasy,  and  prepared  the  way  for  that 
unparalleled  outbreak  which  has  shocked  the  whole 
civilized  race.  Had  not  the  pulpit  first  ignored 
this  hugest  encroachment  on  human  rights,  and 
then  advocated  it  in  the  name  of  man’s  common 
Father,  the  infernal  rebellion  would  never  have 
dared  to  lift  its  head.  What  would  have  been 
that  minister’s  attitude  who  was  an  intense  lover 


MINISTEKIAL  CHARACTER. 


303 


of  righteousness?  Would  he  not  have  obeyed 
God  rather  than  man?'’  Would  not  the  whole  field 
of  his  vision  been  filled  by  his  great  Exemplar, 
who  died  himself  rather  than  justice  should  die  ? 
Having  reached  the  point  where  ease,  fortune,  fame, 
or  life  itself,  or  justice  must  be  surrendered,  would 
he  hesitate  ? 

Right  he  regards  as  the  basis  of  the  Infinite 
Throne.  The  crowns,  and  robes,  and  harps,  and 
all  the  insignia  of  glorified  humanity  could  not. 
allure  him  into  a betrayal  of  justice.  • The  greatest 
achievements  of  ages  are  never  apart  from  this  un- 
dying principle.  It  is  the  characteristic  of  the  hero 
who  has  really  won  immortality.  Monuments  which 
have  arisen  to  any  lower  principle  crumble  by  the 
waste  of  time,  but  those  commemorative,  of  the  love 
of  right  defy  the  tooth  of  time  and  the  crush  of 
worlds.  As  there  is  no  attribute  in  God  s nature 
which  this  perfection  does  not  regulate,  so  there 
should  be  no  faculty  in  ours  which  should  remain 
unsubordinated  to  its  authority.  From  these  sug- 
gestions may  we  hope  that  this  class  will  derive 
improved  views  of  the  ministerial  character ^ and 
will  go  forth  to  practice  upon  them  in  their  great 
work;  that  each  minister  may  see,  in  the  most  un- 
clouded light,  that  his  character  involves  that  of  a 
well-developed  manhood — noble  as  is  his  unearthly 
theme — a fit  basis  of  high  Christian  civilization? 
To  the  attainment  of  this  he  should  feel  himself 

quickened  by  the  living  voice  from  above,  which 

26 


304 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES* 


commands;  ^^Quit  yourselves  like  men— be  strong*^^ 
Of  that  Christian  faith  which  indispensably  un- 
derlies such  a character  I need  notv  here  minutely 
speak.  Its  nature,  evidences,  object,  and  scope, 
with  the  place  assigned  to  it  in  the  saving  scheme, 
have  been  lucidly  discussed  in  their  proper  places. 
You  know  that  it  grasps  God’s  word,  government, 
and  character;  that  it  takes  hold  of  God’s  /edeeming 
Son  and  sanctifying  Spirit,  and,  therefore,  it  alone 
can  vitalize  every  virtue  that  decks  the  minister’s 
character;  that  without  it  those  virtues  would  be 
cold  and  cheerless  as  the  moon-beams  on  the  ice- 
berg; through  that  alone  come  the  sun-bursts  of 
God’s  smile  upon  his  toiling  servants.  It  can  not 
escape  you,  brethren,  that  this  rapid  sketch  of 
minister  for  the  times'^  admits  of  large  expansion 
and  much  illustration.  It  is  fervently  hoped  that, 
in  the  practical  works  of  your  ministry,  you  will 
fill  up  this  outline.  And  leaving,  as  you  now  do, 
those  sacred  halls  toward  which  a thousand  eyes 
are  turned  with  intensity,  let  me  remind  you  that 
this  is  the  only  mode  in  which  you  can  best  honor 
them.  Thereby  you  will  bear  a noble  testimony  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  school  of  the  prophets;  to  the 
lofty  and  steady  aim  of  its  laborious  Faculty ; to 
the  sublime  wisdom  of  its  sainted  founder.  You 
will  give  to  the  winds  the  last  doubt  of  its  hesi- 
tating friends,  and  another  age  will  bless  Heaven 
that  you  were  its  inmates,  and  survived  to  be 
among  its  noblest  representatives. 


XY. 


GROUNDS  OF  MINISTERIAL  SUCCESS: 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS 
WHICH  HAD  FINISHED  ITS  COURSE  IN  THE 
GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Beloved  Pupils, — The  part  which  you  are  about 
to  act  in  the  ministerial  vocation  will  ever  look 
back  on  that  which  you  have  already  acted  in  our 
sacred  halls.  Your  discipline  here  has  been  pro- 
spective of  your  elevated  position  there.  The  germ 
of  the  pastoral  character  has  been  deposited  here, 
to  be  developed  in  its  beauty  and  fragrance  here- 
after. What  is  now  rudimental  must  then  be  ma- 
ture. You  have  here  explored  the  mysteries  of 
mind,  that  you  may  there  find  an  avenue  for  truth 
to  its  deepest  recesses.  You  have  here  communed 
with  the  past  that  you  may  mold  the  future.  You 
have  been  conversant  with  grammar,  and  logic,  and 
rhetoric,  not  to  make  them  intruders  in  the  pulpit, 
but  there  to  wield  that  truth  by  the  might  with 
which  they  have  clothed  your  arm.  Those  ele- 
mental principles  with  which  you  have  communed, 

lying  along  the  outwalks  of  thought,  are  not  pulpit 

305 


306 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


material,  but  instruments  of  mentaropulence.  They 
include  particular  truths,  which  are  to  be  classified 
under  them,  as  the  arch  of  heaven,  spanning  the 
globe,  includes  all  the  separate  objects  on  its  sur- 
face. The  prospective  relation  of  principle  to  prac- 
tice is  only  equal  to  the  retrospective  relation  of 
practice  to  principle.  There  is  in  the  Bible,  or 
pulpit,  no  one  inoperative  principle  of  truth.  Prin- 
ciple finds  its  importance  in  practice,  and  practice 
its  authority  in  principle.  Should  you  cease  to  be 
students  when  you  retire  from  our  halls,  you  will 
tear  asunder  these  which  God  has  joined  together. 
The  law  of  progression,  inscribed  in  light  on  all 
diligent  minds,  will  operate  in  an  inverted  order 
till  every  great  light  in  the  field  of  intellectual  vis- 
ion shall  die  away  into  twilight  dimness.  But  kin- 
dled by  the  love  of  Calvary,  and  obedient  to  t'le 
great  law  of  mind,  requiring  one  ever  to  be  exceed- 
ing his  former  self,  you  will  ally  to  your  sacred 
vocation  all  other  interests  in  the  sphere  of  your 
being. 

One  of  the  strongest  grounds  of  the  minister's 
success  is  his  sacred  and  universal  self-consecra- 
TiON.  To  become  a channel  of  spiritual  light  the 
soul  must  be  absorbed  in  spiritual  aims.  This  in- 
volves no  rude  sundering  of  social  ties,  no  arro- 
gance of  the  bigot,  no  cynic's  scowl,  no  ascetic's 
shirt  of  hair — not  a hoarse  murmur  of  seriousness. 
These  are  utterly  alien  to  this  sublime  dedication; 
they  form  that  dark  thunder-cloud  of  superstition 


GROUNDS  OF  MINISTERIAL  SUCCESS. 


307 


which  may  border  the  landscape  of  social  gladness, 
but  form  no  part  of  the  breathing  picture.  This 
consecration  of  every  power  to  the  service  of  God’s 
altar  originates  that  hidden  harmony  which  allies 
the  minister  to  the  interests  of  his  race.  This  ex- 
alted position  is  a steep  ascent,  never  attained  but 
by  calling  into  requisition  every  faculty  of  the  soul 
and  every  grace  from  Heaven.  It  is  the  solitary 
eminence  in  the  whole  moral  field,  where  the  in- 
stincts are  under  the  sway  of  that  reason  whose 
light  is  fed  by  the  perpetual  oil  of  grace.  Here 
alone  is  security  against  recreancy  to  your  obliga- 
tions. Abiding  here,  you  will  instinctively  recoil 
from  the  approach  of  sin,  as  if  your  whole  surface 
were  one  retina  of  the  most  delicate  net-work.  You 
will  experience  an  inward  development  tending  spon- 
taneously to  yield  your  enlarging  faculties  to  God’s 
service.  This  is  that  mighty  spring,  seated  deep 
within,  that  nothing  can  repress.  Compared  with 
this  all  semblances  of  goodness  are  like  a painted 
sun  to  that  blazing  in  the  heavens — powerless  as  an 
infant’s  voice  to  recall  the  tenants  of  the  tomb. 
How  can  the  odors  of  the  rose  breathe  from  the  ar- 
tificial flower ! Let  this  be  an  ever-abiding  convic- 
tion, that  this  vital  recognition  of  the  Infinite  Pres- 
ence is  the  only  guiding  pillar  of  fire  through  this 
probationary  wilderness.  While  this  disinherits  the 
soul  of  doubt,  of  fear,  of  gloom — while  it  puts  to 
flight  every  element  of  weakness,  it  bathes  the 
whole  scene  of  being  in  its  own  brightness.  It 


308 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


makes  every  spot  God’s  residence;  evejy  moment  a 
golden  grain  of  his  Sabbath;  every  pulse  homage 
to  his  divinity ; every  thought  incense  in  his  tem- 
ple ; every  deed  a sacrifice  in  his  service.  Thus 
arrayed  with  simplicity,  and  transparency,  and  en- 
ergy,  when  you  throw  the  chain  of  living  truth 
around  the  listeners,  the  Eternal  Spirit  will  touch 
it  with  the  electric  spark,  and  restored  humanity 
will  rise  up  before  you  clothed  and  in  its  right 
mind.”  Monuments  of  your  ministry’s  saving  efii- 
cacy  will  not  be  wanting  in  earth  or  heaven,  in 
time  or  eternity. 

But  if  the  mysterious  element  of  the  minister’s 
power  lies  in  the  depths  of  his  own  spirit,  he  must 
make  that  power  felt  by  sympathy  with  three  very 
different  classes  of  objects — with  the  truth  which  he 
wields,  the  mind  he  addresses,  and  the  Infinite 
Spirit  on  which  he  relies.  You  will  allow  me,  my 
dear  brethren,  to  remind  you,  then,  that  unless 
your  highest  powers  are  in  harmony  with  God’s  re- 
vealed truth,  a subjective  weakness  will  pervade 
every  pulpit  achievement.  Should  your  faith  stum- 
ble at  the  depth  of  the  most  fathomless  truths,  that 
inward  infirmity  will  be  inherited  by  all  that  hear 
you.  You  must  feel  the  power  of  your  own  un- 
doubting belief  in  them,  or  your  hearers  can  never 
^ feel  it.  Such  must  be  your  mental  candor,  integ- 
rity, and  discernment,  as  to  confide  equally  in  that 
authoritative  truth  which  has  only  external  evi- 
dence, as  in  that  rational  truth  which  glows  in  the 


GROUNDS  OF  MINISTERIAL  SUCCESS. 


309 


light  which  itself  emits.  Full  well  you  know  that 
all  spiritual  truth  involves  relations  lying  in  a ter- 
ritory beyond  human  intelligence;  that  faith,  there- 
fore, has  its  mightiest  power  in  its  moral  element. 
By  this  must  you  pass  over  that  unbridged  chasm 
dividing  the  seen  from  the  unseen  — the  material 
from  the  spiritual— ^the  made  from  the  unmade — 
and  confidently  traverse  the  region  unexplored  by 
experience.  It  is  this  faith  in  the  Word,  which 
feeds  on  the  realities  drawn  from  the  bosom  of 
mystery,  that  girds  the  pulpit  with  power.  The 
elements  in  which  this  principle  is  operative  are 
the  light  of  Calvary,  the  inspiration  of  Pentecost, 
the  fires  of  the  eternal  judgment. 

But  as  the  minister’s  power  is  relative  to  the 
mind  on  which  it  actSj  he  must  come  into  commu- 
nication with  that  mind.  Without  this  sympathy 
his  richest  endowments  are  wasted.  In  this  great 
field  you  will  find  acquaintance  important  with  two 
classes  of  objects — with  properties  and  states  com- 
mon to  all,  and  with  those  peculiar  to  each.  The 
volumes  making  these  revealments  are  the  Bible, 
the  preacher’s  own  experiences,  and  the  recorded 
observations  of  our  profession,  which,  in  all  ages, 
are  most  conversant  with  the  inner  man.  From 
this  threefold  source  you  will  derive  a skill  to  make 
men  rebuke  their  own  errors,  condemn  their  own 
sins,  and  shudder  at  the  gulf  opened  before  them  by 
their  own  consciences,  by  the  self-application  of 
those  laws  you  expound  in  their  hearing.  You 


310 


LECTUKES  ANJj  ADDRESSES. 


will  intuitively  perceive  whether  a direct  appeal  to 
the  heart,  or  whether  a side-light  let  in  on  it  at  a 
certain  angle,  will  be  more  efficient. 

Another  element  of  pulpit  power  you  will  find  in 
the  deep  sympathy  of  your  moral  nature  with  the 
conscience  of  your  hearers.  The  pulpit,  more  than 
any  other  agent  on  earth,  finds  human  conscience 
the  field  of  its  achievements.  Nor  is  there  another 
faculty  of  man  invested  with  so  much  authority. 
The  way  of  access  to  this  stronghold  of  our  nature 
must  often  be  suggested  by  the  preacher’s  own  con- 
science. He  must  reproduce  his  former  self  when 
passing  through  their  various  moral  states'  and  thus 
make  their  present  condition  his  own.  When  thus 
all  hearts  will  seem  to  beat  in  your  bosom,  the 
power  to  mold  them  will  eminently  clothe  you. 
You  will  often  touch  a deep  spring  in  the  soul  of 
the  hearer  by  throwing  out  a single  thought  which 
you  perceive  to  lie  within  the  precincts  of  his  asso- 
ciations. It  is  this  profound  moral  sympathy  which 
gives  everlasting  freshness  to  the  sternest  lessons 
of  the  pulpit.  It  was  this  power  which  gave  the 
loftiest  designation  to  His  ministry  who  was  one 
vast  incarnate  conscience.  It  was  this  that  gave  the 
morally  sublime  its  consummation  in  his  thoughts, 
words,  life,  and  death.  Let  it  be  your  secret  power, 
whether  you  rouse  the  slumbering,  guide  the  inquir- 
ing, or  bind  up  the  broken-hearted. 

But  we  have  reserved  the  last  place  in  this  address 
to  glance  at  a still  higher  object  of  the  preacher’s 


GEOUNDS  OF  MINISTERIAL  SUCCESS. 


311 


sympathy.  Allusion  is  had  to  his  reliance  on  the 
Infijiite  Spirit  The  combination  of  a double  agency 
in  effecting  man's  spiritual  rescue  is  a primary  prin- 
ciple in  pulpit  efficiency.  There  is  no  more  fanati- 
cism in  an  enlightened  reliance  on  the  Spirit's  effi- 
cacy than  presumption  in  a proper  reliance  on  the 
speaker's  skill.  While  moral  suasion  is  the  sphere 
of  the  one,  regenerating  efficacy  is  the  function  of 
the  other.  That  moment  the  pulpit  assumes  inde- 
pendent action  of  God's  Spirit,  the  distance  becomes 
infinite  between  the  means  and  the  end.  The  sim- 
ple motion  of  Moses'  rod  had  as  much  adequacy  in 
piling  in  heaps  the  ocean  depths  as  pulpit  eloquence 
in  effecting  conversions  without  the  Spirit.  Indeed, 
the  preacher  can  not  do  his  own  part  without  a felt 
reliance  on  this  agency. 

It  will  be  found  by  the  most  rapid  glance  at  the 
history  of  the  pulpit,  that  the  most  distinguished 
embassadors  of  God  have  been  arrayed  with  these 
three  elements  of  power.  They  centered  in  Chry- 
sostom, whose  voice  shook  the  capital  of  the  empire; 
in  Luther,  who  was  a tower  of  superhuman  strength ; 
in  Baxter,  who  was  the  intensest  flame  of  fire;  in 
Wesley,  the  very  echo  of  whose  voice  will  startle 
far-off  generations;  in  Hall,  whose  thoughts  were  a 
stream  of  light,  reflected  and  refracted  by  the  rain- 
bow power  of  his  genius.  They  made  Chalmers  a 
cataract  whose  stream  rushed  from  the  everlasting 
mountains.  These  and  a thousand  more  were  in 

deep  communion  with  Truth,  with  the  sorrowful 

27 


312 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


heart  of  humanity,  and  with  the  Eternal  Spirit  of 
the  heavens.  Mindful  of  themselves  no  further 
than  they  were  related  to  the  spiritual  rescue  of 
their  race,  they  lived  for  Him  who  died  for  them. 
My  dear  brethren,  let  me  beseech  you  to  regard 
such,  not  as  prodigies  of  departed  and  returnless 
ages,  but  such  as  should  ever  be  the  occupants  of 
the  pulpit.  Our  own  age  should  embody  its  power- 
ful principles  here.  Indeed,  ministerial  mind  should 
ever  be  in  advance  of  its  age.  It  should  be  the 
great  reflector  to  throw  forward  a light  which  shall 
kindle  in  the  bosom  of  the  future. 

Among  the  few  other  parting  words  to  which 
your  teachers  can  here  give  utterance  is  the  counsel 
to  be  ever  self-relying  and  God-relying,  Let  each 
never  depart  from  himself  in  the  use  of  his  powers. 
Let  him  never  lose  his  original  mental  traits. 
Through  whatever  vicissitudes  or  advancements  he 
may  pass,  let  his  grasp  be  firm  on  his  inwoven  dis- 
tinctives.  God  has  no  more  cast  all  minds  in  the 
same  mold  than  he  has  caused  all  the  globes  in  the 
universe  to  run  in  the  same  path.  There  is  an  as- 
signed station  to  every  minister  no  less  than  to 
every  star.  Another  can  no  more  do  his  work  than 
he  can  light  up  a sun.  To  neglect  your  own  powers 
because  another's  are  better  is  to  abandon  the  place 
assigned  you  among  the  agents  of  the  universe.  It 
is  putting  a mending-hand  to  what  the  skill  of  God 
had  finished.  We  entreat  you,  then,  to  let  your 
identity  remain  as  changeless  as  your  improvement 


GROUNDS  OF  MINISTERIAL  SUCCESS. 


313 


shall  be  perpetual.  All,  then,  will  leave  their  paths 
tracks  of  light,  various,  it  may  be,  as  that  reflected 
by  the  bow  in  the  heavens,  but  beautiful  and  cheer- 
ing as  that  emblem  of  ancient  promise.  In  the  fer- 
vent hope,  dear  brethren,  that  each  of  you  will  thus 
nobly  act  his  part,  in  the  midst  of  the  remembrances 
of  this  tender  hour,  we  bid  you  an  affectionate  fare- 
well. 


-.,;  '-  • •■  - .'  .'■  ■ <C>‘A  -^At*  . :■’ 

- V-  )■  i ■'  «■>.  i '•■  ■ . 

t?'  ■ ■■;  T.'-:  ii 

■ ='  ■•>■■/»' 

:■  '■-  •..f7  ’■  ■'  . • i'! Jj  ' * 

r -ruin':  - . • . ^ tjpJWljhP^  ?«C<1 

-.  iMOz’ 

06?JTl--'  Jr  . ^ ^ ■■  W. 

- '-■  ■■-'  - ■ - • . ' ■ H 0.J 

. * , . . ■'j  f ■* .*4 , * 5 

' &•  Oi-.a  :«i-< 

■yd 

>.  'ni 


XVI. 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS: 

DELIVERED  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  DEPARTURE  OP 
REV.  MR.  BAUME  AND  FAMILY  FOR  INDIA. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  Friends, — I oc- 
cupy to-night  a place  which  would  have  been  sup- 
plied by  higher  arid  brighter  powers  but  for  a single 
event  in  my  own  history.  Twenty-two  years  since 
the  throbbings  of  my  brother’s  heart  were  in  my 
bosom.  It  was  not  to  India,  but  to  South  America, 
I was  destined.  But  though  it  is  his  to  remove  the 
darkness  of  paganism,  and  was  mine  to  vanquish 
the  superstition  of  Romanism,  the  similarity  is  suf- 
ficient for  commensurate  sympathy. 

May  I then  be  permitted  to  direct  your  attention 
to  India,  the  field  he  is  to  occupy?  It  has  been  the 
theater  of  many  a drama — none  more  bloody  than 
that  recently  transacted.  Few  greater  events  have 
transpired  in  man’s  history  than  India’s  revolt.  It 
has  stirred  the  civilized  world;  it  has  bathed  En- 
gland in  tears  over  the  mangled  corpses  of  her  sons 
^ and  daughters,  and  their  little  ones.  It  burst  on 

the  Government  like  a clap  of  thunder  from  a 

315 


316 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


cloudless  heaven.  The  nation  awoke,  arose,  and 
shook  off  apathy.  She  kindled  into  the  intensest 
flame  of  retributive  justice.  To  vindicate  her  in- 
sulted honor,  and  to  reestablish  her  profaned  au- 
thority, she  blew  the  trumpet,  rallying  her  most 
puissant  forces.  Till  now  the  nation,  as  a whole, 
was  unaware  of  her  fearful  responsibility  in  ruling 
India.  The  mutiny  was  an  earthquake;  it  shook 
the  British  empire,  but  did  not  ingulf  it. 

When,  and  where,  and  how,  and  by  whom  this 
fiery  torrent  should  be  arrested,  was  one  of  the 
most  anxious  inquiries  that  had  thrilled  the  throne 
of  England.  There  rests  not  on  the  shoulders  of  a 
government  on  earth  a weightier  responsibility  than 
the  prevention  of  its  recurrence.  England  is  indeed 
the  most  effective  representative  of  the  progressive 
tendencies  of  modern  culture.  By  mutual  interests 
and  free  institutions  she  binds  in  the  bonds  of 
brotherhood,  more  than  any  other  nation,  the  fami- 
lies of  the  globe.  That  her  organ,  the  East  India 
Company,  has  failed  to  do  for  that  ancient  nation 
what  Christian  hope  had  panted  for  is  undoubted; 
but  the  shift  of  power  will  make  the  future  brighter 
than  the  past. 

None  can  glance  at  the  history  of  that  seat  of 
ancient  nations  without  finding  it  imbued  with  an 
air  milder  and  graver  than  the  romance  of  the 
Orient.  It  is  isolated  from  Asia,  that  cradle  of 
the  race.  It  is  a continent  of  itself.  In  population 
it  outnumbers  mysterious  Africa,  joined  with  all 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


317 


inhabiting  both  Americas.  In  its  native  resources 
it  has  no  equal.  Its  collected  treasure  was  too  rich 
for  exhaustion  by  a hundred  desolating  wars.  A 
thousand  years  before  the  great  advent  from  heaven 
Solomon's  ships  brought  gold  from  Ophir;  more  than 
two  thousand  years  ago  the  wealth  of  India  tempted 
the  cupidity  of  the  Macedonian  conqueror  — Alex- 
ander would  have  seized  it  but  for  the  mutiny  of 
his  phalanx.  For  long  ages  its  marts  supplied  the 
cravings  of  Roman  luxury.  When  the  first  Mo- 
hammedan invasion  rolled  its  desolating  flood  over 
India  — tenth  century  — it  returned  loaded  with 
spoils  richer  than  figures  could  compute.  Though 
this  garden  of  the  globe  seemed  desolated  by  this 
flood  which  swept  over  it,  it  soon  recovered  its 
bloom,  and  became  again  tempting  to  other  con- 
querors— even  after  it  was  weak  as  it  was  wealthy — 
seducing  as  it  was  helpless.  For  the  last  eighty 
years  it  has  been  held  in  the  grasp  of  a commercial 
islet  in  the  Western  ocean.  While  Europe,  now 
great  in  her  seats  of  power,  and  science,  and  war, 
and  commerce,  was  one  vast  forest,  India  was  the 
home  of  Eastern  civilization.  There,  far  back  in 
the  world's  morning,  mind  had  its  largest  develop- 
ment. The  science  of  Egypt  was  the  younger  sister 
of  that  which  had  long  before  kindled  its  glories  in 
India.  Her  literature  was  more  extensive  than  that 
of  Greece  and  Rome;  her  language — the  Sanscrit — 
is  more  ancient,  euphonious,  more  copious,  and  more 
philosophic  than  that  with  which  Plato  has  charmed 


318 


LEGTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


a hundred  ages.  It  was  parental  to  the  ten  living 
and  prominent  languages  now  used  in  India — to  the 
Greek,  Latin,  French,  Italian,  Portuguese,  German, 
and  Spanish.  It  is  the  key  to  all  linguistic  study, 
excepting  a few  ancient  languages  first  uttered  in 
the  cradle  of  the  race. 

The  aboriginals  of  this  great  peninsula  have  long 
since  sunk  unknown  in  the  ocean  of  ages,  unless 
some  shreds  of  them  make  the  wild  tribes  which 
for  two  thousand  years  have  dwelt  in  that  mount- 
ainous range,  stretching  across  India,  under  the 
tropic  of  Cancer.  The  southern  half  of  India, 
called  Deccan,  is  a plateau,  whose  present  people 
entered  it  before  Abraham  came  to  Palestine.  They 
brought  with  them  the  germ  of  their  unique  future 
civilization.  The  sacred  book — the  Veda — of  this 
ancient  nation  is  the  oldest  and  most  authentic 
ante-historic  monument  of  the  European  branch  of 
the  race.  Indeed,  this  restores  the  historic  rela- 
tions of  all  the  European  families  of  languages. 

The  caste  of  India  is  the  iron  frame-work  into 
which  the  Brahminical  polity  forced  that  ancient 
people.  Long  and  arduous  was  the  struggle  before 
success  crowned  it;  but  once  obtained  it  was  never 
lost.  Its  overthrow  has  been  attempted  both  by 
arms  and  by  argument.  The  assault  made  upon  it 
by  Buddha  is  older  than  the  Christian  era.  This 
heathen  'protestant  aimed  an  extirpating  blow  at  all 
the  superstitious  ceremonies  of  the  hierarchy.  His 
new  system  spread  like  the  waters  of  the  Deluge; 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


319 


but  having  atheism  for  its  underlying  principle,  it 
failed  to  maintain  the  triumph  it  won,  and  the 
power  of  the  Brahma  has  since  been  in  the 
ascendant. 

But,  friends,  will  you  not  recognize  the  tenacity 
of  caste  for  life,  also,  in  its  utter  defiance  of  the 
triumphal  invader  ? If  Mohammedan  sovereignty 
for  eight  centuries  was  unable  to  shake  this  system, 
what  must  be  its  hold  on  the  nations!  We  concede 
that  Islamism  is  wanting  in  regenerating  energy; 
that,  if  it  has  an  element  of  strength  in  maintain- 
ing that  God  is  one,  it  has  a neutralizing  element  of 
weakness  in  alleging  Mohammed  is  God’s  prophet; 
but,  if  it  were  unable  to  link  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tion on  to  the  modern — if  it  had  no  skill  in  re- 
juvenating and  reconstructing — it  was  armed  with 
mighty  power  for  destruction.  Stilly  the  system  of 
caste  bore  up  against  its  desolating  ravages.  India 
was  a great  battle-field,  on  which  conflicts  were  in- 
cessant between  its  old  proprietors,  its  new  masters, 
and  the  wild  tribes  on  its  borders.  The  last  great 
Islam  invasion — fourteenth  century — made  by  Tam- 
erlane, overbore  and  crushed  all  before  it,  excepting 
caste.  This  remained  unscathed  in  all  its  strength. 
This  it  withstood  as  it  had  done  all  other  shocks  of 
twenty  centuries. 

Though  the  East  India  Company  has  existed  since 
the  sixteenth  century,  it  has  been  a military  power 
for  less  than  half  that  period.  The  history  of  its 
last  eighty  years  is  alone  in  the  annals  of  the  race. 


320 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


It  exhibits  more  of  genius,  more  of  heroism,  more 
of  sacrifice,  more  that  dazzles  the  imagination  and 
outrages  credibility  than  all  Europe  can  produce 
during  this  period.  That  a business  charter,  given 
to  a company  of  shopkeepers,  should  be  transmuted 
into  a title  to  hold  the  Empire  of  India,  is  not  more 
marvelous  than  the  astounding  means  by  which  it 
was  achieved.  These  have  furnished  a theme  on 
which  great  orators  have  vied  with  the  mightiest 
men  of  their  art  in  past  ages.  The  world  never 
saw  a series  of  more  brilliant  victories  than  those 
achieved  both  in  the  field  and  in  the  cabinet. 
Never  before  was  there  such  a kingdom  so  gained, 
so  held,  so  lost,  and  so  regained. 

And,  Mr.  Chairman,  would  I could  add,  that 
those  who  fought  and  conquered  did  not  also  plun- 
der and  oppress!  But,  though  the  laurels  of  the 
heroes  were  not  untarnished  by  the  cruelties  of  the 
tyrant,  I can  not  entirely  agree  with  the  chairman, 
that  England  has  been  utterly  recreant  regarding 
her  obligation  to  India,  and  that  the  bloody  revolt 
was  a visitation  of  Providence.  I believe  that  re- 
volt was  a series  of  high-handed  crimes — that  Prov- 
idence restrains  the  effects  of  crimes,  presses  them 
in  other  channels,  and  appropriates  them  to  opposite 
ends,  but  never  instigates  crime.  The  functions  of 
that  Divine  agency  are  to  check,  arrest,  and  re- 
appropriate  the  deeds  of  darkness  in  this  revolted 
race. 

Censure  is  due  to  England,  but  not  unmixed  with 


A MISSIONABY  ADDEESS. 


321 


praise.  Had  her  East  India  Company  been  Chris- 
tian philanthropists,  instead  of  being  brokers  and 
usurers,  its  little  agency  would  have  been  purely 
good.  But  even  then,  what  would  one  faint  ray  of 
Christian  light  do  toward  dissipating  the  gloom  of  a 
hundred  ages. 

As  it  was  the  English  were  but  a single  handful 
scattered  over  a vast  empire,  in  the  midst  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  millions  of  pagans,  bound  by 
the  iron  fetters  of  caste,  which  all  the  forces  of  a 
hundred  ages  have  failed  to  dissolve.  England  and 
all  conquerors  of  India  found  in  this  mysterious  in- 
stitution of  caste  what  they  had  found  in  nothing 
else.  They  could  conquer  the  arms  of  India,  but 
not  the  caste  of  India.  That  peninsula  had  bowed 
to  more  conquerors  than  history  has  chronicled,  to 
more  invasions  and  revolutions  than  would  have 
swept  away  any  other  civilization  ever  established 
by  man.  But,  in  spite  of  all  those  desolating  hur- 
ricanes, caste  has  kept  its  place.  Defiant  as  the 
everlasting  mountains,  it  stands  unimpaired.  The 
many  centuries  which  have  contributed  to  the  con- 
solidation of  that  system — the  unmeasurable  power 
of  those  agencies  which  have  failed  to  subvert  it — 
the  manhood  vigor  it  retains  after  the  battle  of 
thirty  centuries — all  prove  its  impregnable  strength. 

The  face  of  India,  physically,  has  changed.  Her 
successive  conquerors  have  every- where  left  monu- 
ments of  their  power  in  the  roads,  canals,  temples, 
and  cities  which  they  have  made  in  India;  but. 


322 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


though  they  could  build  cities  in  the  midst  of 
mountains,  and  roll  rivers  over  ^arid  plains,  and 
turn  realms  of  sand  to  blooming  gardens,  they 
could  not  remove  or  substitute  Brahminism. 

India  in  her  institutions  has  proudly  stood  self- 
reliant  at  the  grave  of  her  empire.  These  are  now 
just  what  they  were  when  Alexander  invaded  "their 
empire.  As  now  their  four  castes  then  existed. 
The  gods  they  then  worshiped  they  now  adore. 
Then,  as  now,  their  widows  mounted  the  funeral 
pile — their  fakirs,  with  hooks  in  their  backs,  swung 
in  the  air.  Kelee  then,  as  now,  received  her  mid- 
night worship — the  Juggernaut  his  noonday  rides. 
Thus  have  the  pressure  of  foreign  forces,  the  rush 
of  many  ages,  the  fanaticism  of  triumphant  Mussul- 
mans, which  have  laid  empires  in  their  grave,  left 
the  caste  of  India  in  her  noonday  glory.  This  sys- 
tem, which  flourished  before  Jupiter  reigned — its 
priesthood,  whose  claimed  origin  is  the  Creator's 
head,  are  the  only  immutable  things  in  that  sun- 
bright  clime. 

What,  then,  is  that  lesson  which  these  stern 
realities  read  to  the  Church?  Is  it  to  desist,  to 
withhold  her  missionaries,  to  quench  the  apostolic 
zeal  of  Grod's  embassadors?  Directly  the  reverse. 
We  have  proved  that,  out  of  the  Gospel,  there  is 
no  hope  for  India.  Now,  let  that  other  question 
be  settled — Is  there  power  in  the  Gospel  commen- 
surate with  this  mighty  resistance? 

Listen  to  the  echo  of  ancient  voices.  What  says 


A MISSIONAEY  ADDEESS. 


323 


the  history  of  its  early  march?  There  we  learn 
that  once  it  grappled  with  the  gladiatorial  games 
of  bloodthirsty  Kome,  with  the  wild  barbarity  of 
Scythian  tribes,  with  the  superstitious  exclusive- 
ness of  the  selfish  Jew,  with  the  philosophic  pride 
of  the  supercilious  Greek,  and  with  the  inveterate 
corruption  in  libidinous . Corinth.  What  was  the 
part  which  the  Gospel  acted  when  antagonizing 
with  these  giant  powers?  Did  it  not  make  the  fe- 
rocious Eoman  mild  as  a lamb,  the  haughty  Greek 
meek  as  a child,  the  licentious  Corinthian  pure  as 
the  robes  of  light,  the  wild  Scythian  tame  and  in 
his  right  mind,  and  the  exclusive  Jew  philanthropic 
as  the  lofty  soul  of  the  missionary  Paul?  To  the 
end  of  the  world  its  Author  accompanies  it;  its 
subjugating  energy  can  not,  therefore,  waste  by  the 
lapse  of  ages. 

Because  all  other  agencies  have  been  too  weak  to 
crumble  the  adamantine  wall  of  caste,  is  it,  there- 
fore, impregnable  to  the  Gospel  of  God?  Is  it  not 
the  grand  aim,  the  high  mission  of  the  Gospel,  to 
triumph  over  the  wealth  and  wisdom,  pride  and 
prejudice,  power  and  policy  involved  in  all  possible 
forms  of  sin?  Let  the  Kestorer  and  the  destroyer 
have  a fair  field,  and  then  let  the  battle  rage ; will 
not  enlisted  angels  greet  the  result? 

Do  not  the  underlying  principles  of  the  Gospel 
recognize  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother- 
hood of  the  race — principles  which  will  strike  down 
that  Vv^all  by  which  priestly  usurpation  has  divided 


324 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


society?  The  mysterious  stone  that  crumbled  the 
image  is  but  an  emblem  of  that  hidden  power  oper- 
ating through  the  Word  to  shatter  to  fragments 
these  strongest  holds  of  sin,  which  have  been  gath- 
ering strength  for  forty  centuries. 

That  Christ's  charter  should  cover  all  nations  is 
a demand  of  prophecy  no  less  than  of  the  vivifying 
and  vitalizing  principles  of  the  Gospel.  The  most 
stubborn  resistance  to  the  missionary's  progress  is 
embodied  in  the  religions  of  the  race.  These  are  in 
three  classes;  they  make  the  religion  of  the  priest, 
of  the  JEmpire,  and  of  reason.  That  of  the  hie- 
rarchal  type  we  have  found  in  India.  It  places  the 
highest  responsibility  of  man  in  the  priest,  leaving 
their  supreme  interests  in  the  invisible  state  to  be 
adjusted  by  him.  He,  standing  between  them  and 
the  mysterious  powers  above,  becomes  a bar  to 
their  direct  intercourse  with  the  Father  of  spirits. 
Thus  this  usurping  representative  cuts  off  all  com- 
munication of  that  grace  by  which  alone  the  heart 
can  be  purified.  The  religion  of  the  Empire  is  not 
less  degrading.  This  subordinates  to  governmental 
purposes  the  highest  functions  of  the  immortal  soul. 
It  makes  fidelity  to  God  a means  to  that  alleged 
higher  end  of  obedience  to  the  magistrate.  It  thus 
daringly  inverts  the  order  of  means  and  end,  by 
substituting  relations  to  man  for  those  binding  him 
to  the  throne  of  God.  It  is  the  Gospel's  function 
to  restore  this  ancient  order,  giving  supremacy  once 
more  to  the  Infinite  Claimant. 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


325 


Nor  do  we  ht^sitate  to  pronounce  the  religion 
of  mere  reason  a device  of  the  destroyer.  To  im- 
pose on  this  unaided  faculty  the  task  of  morally 
rescuing  revolted  millions,  is  to  require  of  the  nat- 
ural what  is  restricted  to  the  Divine — to  demand 
of  the  offender  that  he  find,  unaided,  his  way  back, 
unsmitten,  to  offended  Sovereignty.  His  proud  re- 
jection of  the  heavenly  message  is  the  function  of 
infidel  philosophy,  and  had  an  early  sway  in  the 
Buddhism  of  India.  All  these  groups  of  religions 
that  of  Eevelation  is  ordained  to  vanquish.  This 
inculcates  all  religious  truth,  from  what  is  fitted  to 
the  earliest  dawn  of  intellect  up  to  its  meridian 
splendor — to  all  capacities,  all  cultures,  all  cli- 
mates, all  periods,  and  to  all  dispensations.  Its 
fundamental  truths,  like  our  great  physical  bless- 
ings, come  within  all  capacities — like  the  air,  the 
water,  the  light.  Those,  like  these,  may  belong 
alike  to  the  savage  and  sage,  to  the  peasant  and 
prince,  to  the  slave  and  to  the  sovereign. 

A distinctive  element  in  the  Gospel  which  your 
missionary  will  propagate  is  its  universality.  Now, 
to  attain  its  destined  bounds,  movement  is  indis- 
pensable. Of  this  its  genius  the  Divine  oracles 
furnish  striking  emblems.  They  speak  of  the  mus- 
tard seed  growing j leaven  spreading,  fire  radiating, 
wheels  revolving,  a stone  from  the  mountain  rolling, 
an  angel  in  the  midst  of  heaven  flying.  You,  Chris- 
tian friends,  will  sustain  me  when  I affirm  the  har- 
mony is  perfect  between  this  genius  of  the  Gospel, 


326 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


the  end  it  would  accomplish,  and  the  felt  duty  of 
its  ministers  to  extend  it. 

A profound  conviction  of  this  duty  is  about  to 
sunder  the  ties  that  bind  to  our  hearts  our  depart- 
ing brother,  who  will  now  permit  me  to  say  to  him, 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Church:  Go,  dear  brother, 
as  God’s  messenger,  far  hence  to  preach  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ.  To  be  unmoved  by 
the  treasures  you  relinquish  is  impossible.  From 
your  native  and  adopted  lands  you  will  be  ex- 
patriated ; from  those  bright  and  tender  circles 
ever  encompassing  the  faithful  pastor  you  will  be 
severed.  There,  especially,  are  your  spiritual  chil- 
dren, whom  you  have  inducted  into  the  Eedeemer’s 
fold,  stretching  out  their  beseeching  hands  and  say- 
ing, with  tears.  Stay  for  us.  But  separation  will 
not  be  a grave  to  these  endearments;  they  will  not 
waste  by  distance.  In  this  the  law  of  attraction  is 
inverted;  it  grows  stronger  as  the  space  enlarges. 
A quarter  of  the  globe’s  circumference  will  make 
you  dearer  to  us  than  would  a quarter  of  a league. 
But  distancej  that  bar  to  finite  intercourse,  will  still 
menace  us  with  enduring  separation.  While  the 
same  sun  will  beam  on  us  by  day,  and  the  same 
moon  glitter  on  the  mantle  of  our  night,  the  same 
beams  of  Christian  association  will  cease  to  cast 
their  mild  splendors  on  you.  You,  my  dear  brother, 
will  find  humanity  muifled  in  the  deep  gloom  of 
three  thousand  years — blighted  by  an  idolatry  that 
crushes  sympathies  and  kindles  passions.  You  will 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS.  327 

leave  that  boon  which  is  the  last  relinquished  by  a 
sensitive  nature — congenial  mind. 

Here  our  temporary  farewells  are  cheered  by  the 
echoes  they  send  back  in  speedy  greetings;  but  the 
farewell  about  to  tremble  on  your  lips  will  return 
in  no  such  greetings.  Still,  there  is  a hidden  sense 
in  which  those  one  in  affection  have  one  abode. 
Their  unity  of  soul  supersedes  proximity  of  body; 
and  when  you  shall  have  faded  in  the  distance  from 
our  sight  — when  your  morning  shall  be  our  mid- 
night— even  then,  in  spirit,  we  shall  be  present 
with  you.  For  this  mystic  communion  we  shall 
not  pass  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but  di- 
rectly through  the  heavens.  And  when  you  shall 
kneel  alone  on  that  gloomy  pagan  coast,  and  no  ear 
but  God’s  shall  hear  your  voice,  ours  will  mingle 
with  it  in  that  great  presence-chamber;  there,  there 
we  will  meet  you! 

And  now,  on  the  eve  of  your  departure,  we  will 
unite  to  beseech  God  that  his  encompassing  arms 
may  protect  your  person,  your  wife,  your  little  one, 
and  your  coadjutors  from  the  stroke  of  accident, 
from  the  attack  of  disease,  from  the  hand  of  vio- 
lence, and  from  the  shafts  of  death;  and  that,  when 
the  hour  of  probationary  tears  shall  have  fled,  and 
when  on  the  heavenly  plains  new  joys  shall  be  kin- 
dled by  the  greetings  of  long-parted  laborers,  may 
thousands  ransomed  in  India  rush  to  your  embrace, 
and  hail  you  as  their  instrumental  savior ! 


28 


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■ r-  ■'.  - :'%;'■  - . . ,r-:  :-:i;  ; ■■;•  ^ 

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*‘0?  bf^-  ;f.i  ;.... 


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^n^■  : .^■•'•:r:;...•^^^X■  ':7':  W7  : 7.  v '.p .-v 'i JK 

'•  ib  :n'.i  /.:7'\-',  • : /;  '.  / ../.  .,t  ■ « r-,7-.  ^ 

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; r -^T-'  -i,  i ^t£C 

-riiyi.  1/ > ' .!■  :r  ■','i  v'  u; ' ■'•■  ' ''-i  aed  r. 

vnm  '■  _ • .'  :-vrrr--v^:  aii/  fJ.-i-w/r 

(••0n't0'tj:.->..T.-.:)7  -t  '•  J . : j ,••  :U.A  SiVUOiy -Sii-i 

■ '.-TH'!!.-  ;-7*  V.'.''  -:  f''  'f'  • , . ^’av. 


XYIL 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS : 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  MISSIONARY  SOCI- 
ETY OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
OF  CHICAGO. 


Me.  President  and  Friends, — The  theme  on 
which  I am  to  address  you  being  the  field  of  mis- 
sionsj  a defect  of  unity  of  thought  and  elevation  of 
style  will  be  excused.  When  the  Lord  of  the  vine- 
yard affirmed  that  'Hhe  field  is  the  world/'  he  made 
it  commensurate  with  all  the  generations  of  our 
race;  and  when  he  appointed  all  these  to  be  hearers 
of  his  Word,  the  appointment  involved  the  means 
^of  its  universal  dissemination.  These  means  were 
purified  and  commissioned  men,  such  as  with  whom 
it  would  be  congruous  for  Jesus  to  abide  to  the  end 
of  the  world;  their  implements  are  the  utterances 
of  Jehovah’s  mouth;  the  seed  they  deposit  in  the 
moral  soil  should  in  the  promised  harvest  multiply 
a hundredfold.  Though  the  sowers  of  this  seed  are 
mortals,  the  reapers  of  the  harvest  shall  be  angels. 
Its  growth  has  the  long  Summer  of  ages,  its  matur- 
ity shall  be  in  the  world’s  great  Autumn.  The  first 

sheaf  of  this  human  harvest  was  taken  off  Joseph’s  - 

329 


330 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


tomb — the  last  shall  be  found  in  the  ultimate  gen- 
eration of  man,  and  shall  be  caught  up  in  the 
clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.”  Then  shall 
the  whole  harvest  of  the  globe  be  brought  to  the 
eternal  garner  with  more  than  earthly  shouts;  but 
these  sowers  and  reapers  employed  by  the  Husband- 
man will  meet  his  approval  and  gain  the  reward  of 
their  agency.  This  great  harvest,  which  was  sown 
on  various  soil,  which  germinated  and  grew  under 
raging  storms,  shall  gain  its  full  maturity  beneath 
a broad  and  cloudless  orb  glowing  in  a new  heaven. 
But  it  should  not  escape  us,  that  we  are  now  not 
rather  to  survey  the  field  of  our  toil  than  to  antici- 
pate the  results  of  that  fidelity  with  which  we 
should  cultivate  it.  It  will  be  convenient  to  glance 
at  this  field  in  two  great  divisions — at  that  portion 
lying  in  the  Neio  World,  and  at  those  portions  lying 
out  of  the  Western  hemisphere. 

In  estimating  the  claims  of  ^Hhe  home  field”  on 
the  Church,  we  must  ascertain  the  supplies,  the 
facilities,  and  the  obstacles-  of  this  field.  Till  re- 
cently— till  the  great  rebellion  was  inaugurated — 
we  had  regarded  the  lofty  destiny  of  the  New 
World,  only  awaiting  the  disclosure  of  the  future  as 
it  seemed  palpably  written  with  a pen  of  fire  on  the 
adamantine  leaves  of  time;  but  the  great  volume 
had  only  commenced  unrolling,  when  we  were  ap- 
palled by  a murky  cloud  which  shades  that  destiny. 
The  indication  that  this  land  was  reserved  to  work 
out  a mighty  moral  problem  seemed  clear  as  if 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


331 


given  by  God's  own  finger.  The  peerless  increase 
of  our  population,  swelled  by  an  immigrating  tide 
flowing  by  millions  from  the  Old  World,  promised 
to  make  this  a nation  of  nations;  but  how  suddenly 
has  the  gulf  yawned  beneath  our  institutions,  men- 
acing their  very  existence!  The  demon  of  bloody 
discord,  unchained  from  its  confinement,  seems  des- 
tined to  complete  its  work  of  ruin  in  ^Ghis  land  of 
the  free,"  to  which  the  oppressed  of  every  clime 
had  repaired  to  assert  their  manhood;  but  these 
guests  from  distant  climes  found  in  our  midst  one 
institution  which,  like  fire  in  a palace  of  ice,  was 
dissolving  our  civil  fabric.  Long  had  we  gloried  in 
our  self-sustaining  Christianity,  alleging  the  proof 
of  its  inherent  vitality,  as  displayed  in  the  volun- 
tary support  which  upheld  it.  But  anarchy,  which 
is  at  once  the  offspring  of  revolution  and  the  parent 
of  despotism^  has  its  antecedent  already  attempted, 
and  its  sequence  may  soon  be  upon  us.  Should  it 
come,  who  can  say  that  the  altar  of  God  may  not 
- soon  be  chained  to  the  throne  of  the  tyrant,  and 
the  liberty  of  conscience  be  found  among  the  things 
which  have  departed?  A military  despotism  alike 
erects  a scaffold  for  patriots,  and  kindles  the  faggots 
for  martyrs.  But  what  shall  be  the  appropriate 
agency  to  prevent  such  a result,  and  to  perpetuate 
our  institutions,  and  to  reassure  our  nation’s  hope? 
A calm  and  piercing  wisdom  in  our  legislature, 
answers  the  statesman.  Immaculate  purity  in  our 
courts  of  justice,  responds  the  jurist.  Dauntless 


332 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


bravery  and  surpassing  skill  in  the  field  of  confiict, 
says  the  warrior.  But  history,  assuring  the  Chris- 
tian that  all  these  may  be  baffled,  he  eagerly  in- 
quires, May  there  not  be  lying  back  behind  all 
these  secondary  means  a more  puissant  agency?  Is 
not  our  ultimate  conservative  that  balm  which  is  to 
heal  the  wound  of  the  world? — that  living  Gospel 
which  recognizes  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man?  But,  despite  the  disastrous 
events  now  pending,  the  New  World  will  still  con- 
tinue a thrilling  object  of  missionary  enterprise. 
When  the  storm  of  war  shall  have  restrained  its 
rage,  millions  will  again  rush  to  our  shore  from  the 
nations  of  the  older  continents.  The  broad,  and 
deep,  and  various  channels  through  which  these 
foreigners  shall  flow  to  our  shores  — coming  over 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  from  the  West  and  from 
the  Orient — will  make  the  American  family  repre- 
sent all  the  families  of  the  race.  We  can  already 
enumerate  Norway,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Ireland, 
Spain,  France,  Africa,  and  China,  which  will  not 
amount  to  a tithe  of  those  sores  of  foreigners  who 
are  represented  among  us  by  more  than  eighty 
spoken  languages.  Among  these  are  found  all 
grades  of  superstition,  from  the  semi-heathenized 
Catholic  to  those  utterly  pagan  from  the  very  heart 
of  China.  Along  with  these  comes  a class  still 
more  to  be  commiserated;  I allude  to  the  French 
and  German  infidels.  They  would  dethrone  the 
Almighty  Mind,  and  raise  the  universe  itself  to 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


333 


supremacy.  We  may  not  be  aware  of  all  the  allure- 
ments that  draw  and  all  the  forces  that  impel  these 
strangers  to  our  shores,  but  we  can  not  be  unaware 
of  the  design  of  that  Providence  which  sends  them 
among  us. 

Glance  with  scrutiny  at  the  superstition  of  the 
semi-paganized  Catholic,  at  the  midnight  gloom  of 
the  pagan  Chinese,  and  at  the  reckless  audacity  of 
avowed  infidelity.  The  aggregate  of  these  classes 
are  counted  by  millions;  they  throng  our  cities; 
they  are  diffused  over  our  rural  districts;  they 
must  absorb  or  be  absorbed;  they  must  make  us 
like  themselves,  or  themselves  be  made  like  us. 
What,  then,  is  our  Gospel  provision  to  secure  this 
assimilation  ? The  living  mass  in  our  great  metrop- 
olis swells  to  more  than  half  a million.  Our  pul- 
pits there  do  not  exceed  two  hundred,  conveying 
the  Gospel  to  not  more  than  one  in  five — to  a pro- 
portion unequal  to  our  native  population.  But  if 
four-fifths  lie  out  of  the  sphere  of  Gospel  infiuence 
in  that  most  favored  city,  what  must  be  the  condi- 
tion of  those  less  favored — those  stretching  over  the 
vast  space  between  the  most  Eastern  cities  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean?  Can  the  Church  vindicate  her  pol- 
icy in  so  sparsely  manning  these  centers  of  popula- 
tion? Can  there  be  any  foreign  interest  competing 
with  that  of  those  millions  perishing  at  our  very 
door?  The  Catholic  class  of  these  foreigners  form 
a perfect  organism.  The  concert,  the  steadiness, 
and  the  success  with  which  it  pursues  its  aim  is  no- 


33  i 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


torious.  Its  history  for  the  last  five  centuries  is 
alone  among  human  annals.  Within  that  period  it 
has  grappled  successively  with  four  tremendous 
forces,  and  triumphed  in  every  conflict.  No  cor- 
rupt system  has  ever  before  proved  itself  so  puis- 
sant an  energy  in  society.  Of  this  compact  organ- 
ism nearly  one-sixth  of  our  entire  population  is 
composed.  At  the  head  of  these  four  millions  are 
placed  nearly  two  thousand  priests,  whose  word  is 
law,  whose  will  is  destiny,  whose  curse  is  perdition. 
Their  asylums,  schools,  colleges,  theological  semi- 
naries, and  confessionals  are  the  instruments  of 
their  formidable  power.  These  agencies,  operating 
in  perfect  concert,  are  so  thoroughly  anti-American, 
anti-Protestant,  and  anti-Christian,  as  to  constitute 
a subversive  agency  periling  the  institutions  of  the 
New  World.  To  this  strength  how  sadly  dispro- 
portionate are  our  hundred  missionaries  among 
these  millions,  making  only  one  missionary  to  forty 
thousand  ! It  is  true,  the  proportion  is  greater  to 
the  twenty  thousand  Swedes,  the  thirty  thousand 
Welsh,  the  fifteen  thousand  Swiss,  the  seventy-five 
thousand  Norwegians,  and  to  the  ten  thousand  Chi- 
nese. This  is  also  true  of  the  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  Germans,  French,  and  Spaniards, 
and  of  the  one  hundred  thousand  Mexicans  in  our 
territories.  Still,  the  proportion  of  missionaries 
operating  on  all  these  is  fearfully  small. 

Allow  me  to  propose,  as  the  second  object  of  our 
home  enterprise,  the  fourteen  millions  of  our  abo- 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


335 


riginals  in  the  two  Americas.  Our  great  inherit- 
ance was  once  theirs.  The  rapidity  of  their  de- 
crease has  a parallel  only  in  the  rapidity  of  our 
increase.  Aside  from  the  African  race,  none  on  the 
globe  has  been  more  peeled  and  crushed.  The  mere 
mention  of  the  millions  that,  in  the  South  American 
mines,  sunk  to  a premature  grave,  is  heart-rending. 
Only  scattered  fragments  remain  of  all  those  tribes 
which  once  employed  fifteen  hundred  languages. 
And  in  North  America  they  have  successively  re- 
tired before  the  pale-faced  invader,  till  they  stand 
trembling  before  his  ruthless  violence  on  the  brink 
of  the  Western  Ocean.  Most  of  the  tribes  in  the 
United  States  and  territories — seven ty-five  thou- 
sand— are  now  accessible  to  the  missionary.  Nu- 
merous of  these  communities  are  now  inviting  fields 
of  Gospel  labor,  not  one-fifth  of  which  are  now  oc- 
cupied. I know  that  the  exterminating  sentence  of 
these  gloomy  wanderers  has  long  since  been  pro- 
nounced by  the  voice  of  events ; but  shall  they  sink 
to  the  grave  of  forgotten  nations — shall  their  sun 
go  down  behind  the  hills  of  eternity  without  our 
letting  in  one  beam  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  to 
gild  the  midnight  hour  of  their  doom?  We  must 
respond  to  that  authoritative  demand,  whether  our 
energies  shall  be  exhausted  on  the  Kafiir,  the  Hin- 
doo, and  the  Hottentot,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  the 
Blackfoot,  the  Flathead,  the  Camanche,  the  Pata- 
gonian, and  the  Esquimaux? 

But  the  African  race  in  the  New  World  forms 
29 


336 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


another  object  of  our  enterprise  within  our  national 
precincts.  Nearly  four  millions  of  these  are  slaves; 
half  a million  are  nominally  free,  but  in  several  of 
the  States  they  find  no  place  for  the  soles  of  their 
feet.  For  all  these  five  hundred  thousand  not  a 
white  missionary  labors.  Of  our  relations  to  the 
millions  in  bondage  I dare  not  trust  myself  to 
speak.  Never  before  did  the  light  of  Goshen  and 
the  night  of  Egypt  dwell  so  long  in  juxtaposition. 
Here  is  the  blackest  cloud  that  ever  canopied  a 
pagan  allotment,  and  yet  it  is  fringed  with  the 
light  of  a peerless  freedom  and  a pure  Christianity. 
Never  before  did  the  sun  shine  on  such  a spectacle. 
Though  one  in  twelve  of  these  bondmen  are  in  the 
Church,  how  mutilated  is  the  Gospel  they  hear; 
while  the  great  mass,  apart  from  this  small  frag- 
ment, are  wrapped  in  an  unmitigated  darkness ! 
Am  I,  then,  required  to  prescribe  the  mode  in 
which  the  Gospel  may  reach  them?  On  this  I 
must  be  silent  till  the  plan  of  Providence  in  this 
rebellion  shall  be  further  unfolded.  When  the 
trumpet  of  freedom,  blown  by  the  lips  of  authority, 
shall  send  its  shrill  blast  over  the  whole  circumfer- 
ence of  slavedom — then  when  the  jubilee  shall  have 
come,  and  the  living  echo  shall  fly,  and  be  propa- 
gated by  the  mighty  shout  of  emancipated  mill- 
ions— then  will  the  Gospel  have  free  course  through 
all  this  realm  of  heathendom.  I know  this  bloody 
revolution  was  inaugurated  to  rivet  and  eternize 
their  fetters;  but  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens 


I 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


337 


shall  laugh — his  hand  shall  strike  off  those  fetters. 
But  we  have  delayed  too  long  on  our  own  mission- 
ary field  at  HOME ; let  us  merely  glance  at  the  claims 
of  the  foreign  field  on  the  Church. 

Among  the  thousands  of  the  West  India  Islanders 
there  are  only  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  mis- 
sionaries and  less  than  eighty  thousand  members. 
The  Pacific  Islands,  sixty  years  since  shrouded 
in  pagan  gloom,  have  now  one  hundred  and  forty 
missionaries,  about  one  thousand  helperSj  and  more 
than  fifty  thousand  members.  On  the  Western 
coast  of  Africa,  where  the  horrors  of  the  slave-trade 
had  long  deepened  the  gloom  of  heathenism^  are  now 
one  hundred  churches,  fifteen  thousand  members, 
and  as  many  more  native  youth  in  Christian  schools, 
and  the  Bible  in  more  than  twenty  languages. 
This  populous  continent,  next  to  India,  is  throwing 
open  its  wonders  to  the  eye  of  science,  and  promises 
soon  to  become  the  broad  theater  of  aggressive 
Christian  movement.  In  Turkey,  where  Islamism 
is  working  out  its  great  experiment — where  it  has 
occupied  more  than  a thousand  years  in  testing  its 
institutions,  and  where,  in  the  very  garden  'of  the 
globe,  it  is  rapidly  dying — there,  where  the  door  is 
now  open  to  our  missionaries,  we  have  but  seventy- 
six  among  this  mass  of  one  hundred  and  forty  mill- 
ions of  Mussulmans.  The  paralytic  shock  which 
fell  on  paganism  prior  to  Christ's  advent  seems  to 
have  smitten  Mohammedanism.  A thousand  mis- 
sionaries, ready  to  be  martyrs,  should  now  he  there. 


338 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


We  must  next  refer  you  to  the  stupendous  mass 
of  humanity  crowded  together  in  China,  and  in- 
quire how  many  Christian  agents  have  the  Churches 
sent  to  save  these  four  hundred  millions?  The  re- 
ply is  chilling  when  the  answer  is  less  than  two 
hundred,  including  all  their  native  helpers — less 
than  one  missionary  to  two  millions  of  pagans. 

Passing  in  silence  the  millions  of  Catholics  and 
the  smaller  fields  in  Scandinavia  and  Germany,  let 
us  advert  to  India.  Exclusive  of  the  Archipelago 
of  Thibet  and  Siam,  which  have  but  fifty-one  mis- 
sionaries, that  populous  land,  older  in  science  and 
more  perfect  in  language  than  Greece  itself— the 
parent  of  all  the  classic  tongues,  and  rivaling  in 
antiquity  the  theocracy  of  Palestine — this  ancient 
land,  within  whose  precincts  the  rebellion  has  just 
been  crushed  out,  is  now  eminently  open  to  the 
Gospel.  Nearly  five  hundred  missionaries,  with 
nearly  four  times  this  number  of  helpers,  are  now 
cultivating  that  great  field.  But  what  are  these, 
with  their  thirty-three  thousand  members,  and  the 
Scriptures  in  fourteen  languages?  What  are  these 
among  two  hundred  millions  bound  in  the  adamant- 
ine chains  of  caste  ? More  than  two  thousand  years 
that  wall  of  steel  has  been  enlarging  in  its  propor- 
tions. All  the  subverting  influence  of  revolution 
and  conquest  has  failed  to  crumble  it;  under  the 
whole  heavens  there  is  but  one  agency  adequate  to 
this  achievement — that  is  the  Gospel  power  wielded 
by  your  missionaries. 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


339 


But  these  details  must  be  concluded  by  a general 
statement  or  two.  Of  all  the  one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  thirty-six  missionaries  in  the  foreign 
fields,  only  four  hundred  and  eighty  go  from  the 
American . Churches ; consequently,  one  thousand 
and  seventy  are  from  the  Protestant  Churches  in 
the  Old  World;  so  that  our  Churches  are  exceeded 
by  more  than  a hundred  per  cent.  The  sum  total 
expended  annually  for  all  foreign  missions  is  less 
than  four  millions.  That  which  all  Christendom 
spends  annually  for  war  averages  eight  hundred 
millions;  so  that  two  hundred  times  as  much  is 
spent  for  the  destruction  of  men  as  is  devoted  to 
saving  them.  The  disproportion  is  still  more  as- 
tounding between  the  number  employed  in  the  bat- 
tle-field and  the  mission-field.  Here  are  fifteen  thou- 
sand missionaries  employed  to  enlighten  six  hundred 
millions  of  heathens;  and  these  millions  are  pass- 
ing away  at  the  fearful  rate  of  ninety-two  thou- 
sand per  day;  equal  to  four  thousand  per  hour — 
more  than  one  each  second.  Who  shall  arrest  this 
tide  of  souls  in  its  fearful  plunge?  Will  not  hearts, 
fired  by  the  love  of  Calvary,  pant  to  do  this  at  any 
sacrifice?  Would  they  not  do  it,  though  sure  of 
falling  on  the  scorching  sands  of  Africa,  or  of 
bleaching  their  bones  under  the  burning  sun  of 
India? 

Permit  me  now  to  close  this  address  by  a rapid 
glance  at  the  missionary  relations  between  the  home 
work  and  the  foreign  work.  The  law  of  Christian 


340 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


agency  can  not  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  law  of 
social  agency.  This  law  graduates  obligations  by 
proximity;  this  nearness  may  be  in  consanguinity, 
in  contiguity,  or  in  other  facilities  of  mutual  action. 
We  can  not  be  unaware  that  the  genius  of  the  moral 
system  makes  its  first  requisition  for  self-culture. 
The  practicability  of  the  second  requisition  to  cul- 
tivate others  is  suspended  entirely  on  fidelity  to  the 
first.  Each  must  acquire  the  qualities,  the  excel- 
lences he  would  communicate  — must  possess  them 
before  he  can  transfer  them.  Such  are  Christian 
graces  inherently  as  to  operate  vigorously  as  they 
can  do  it  successfully.  Self-improvement  is  social 
improvement;  self-neglect  is  social  neglect.  This 
is  the  principle  which  requires  the  individual  to 
work  outward  toward  the  circumference  — through 
the  domestic  and  neighborhood  spheres  toward  the 
more  distant  objects.  The  same  order  is  appointed 
to  regulate  Church  agencies.  Its  own  spirituality 
is  first  an  intrinsic  glow;  next  the  vicinity  feels  the 
contagion;  then  it  pervades  the  larger  sphere;  then 
in  its  outward  course,  mingling  with  kindred  influ- 
ences, it  swells  into  a tide  which  rolls  beyond  the 
bounds  of  Christendom  to  assimilate  dark  nations 
into  the  likeness  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
missionary  spirit,  then,  does  not  kindle  the  life  of 
the  Church,  but  is  kindled  by  that  spirit;  it  is  not 
its  cause,  but  its  index.  The  one  is  the  fountain; 
the  other  is  its  stream.  These  may  reflexively 
augment  their  source,  but  can  not  originate  their 


THE  FIELD  OF  MISSIONS. 


341 


source.  The  course  of  action  in  every  living  or- 
ganism is  from  the  center  outward,  not  from  the 
circumference  toward  the  center.  Feebleness  at 
the  deep  seat  of  life  generates  inefficiency  at  the 
extremities;  the  inactivity  of  the  limbs  results  from 
the  weakness  of  the  heart's  palpitation.  The  radia- 
tions of  heat  must  ever  be  in  proportion  to  the 
volume  and  intensity  of  the  flame.  In  obedience 
to  the  same  law  is  the  divergency  of  light  which 
so  beautifully  symbolizes  the  spirit  of  missions. 

Indeed,  all  vital  power  which  mysteriously  “per- 
vades every  thing  living  in  the  universe,  acts  from 
the  center,  and  fills  a sphere  whose  extent  is  the 
measure  of  its  inherent  vigor.  Mark  this  phenom- 
enon of  Christianity  at  its  inception  ! So  intense 
was  the  holy  flame  kindled  at  Jerusalem,  that  with- 
in one  short  age  its  radiations  pierced  the  gloom  of 
whole  nations.  Did  the  American  Churches  glow 
with  that  apostolic  ardor,  this  continent  would  be  a 
lofty  lamp -stand  from  which  the  sacred  flame  would 
flash  over  all  heathendom.  How,  then,  shall  our  ef- 
* forts  be  made  commensurate  with  our  object?  By  a 
boundless  confidence  in  the  Gospel,  and  by  a hope- 
lessness in  all  other  means — a profound  conviction 
of  its  fitness  to  the  nature,  the  character,  and  the 
condition  of  the  race — a confidence  in  the  compre- 
hensive truths  it  involves,  such  as  the  unity,  the 
corruption,  and  the  ransom  of  the  whole  species. 
All  other  remedial  schemes  may  be  classed  in  the 
three  systems;  namely,  the  religion  of  the  Empire, 


342 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


the  religion  of  the  'priesthood^  and  the  religion  of 
unaided  reason.  By  analyzing  the  elements  of 
these  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  must  have  been 
put  to  the  test  of  unsuccessful  experiment.  The 
first  pressed  man's  religious  nature  into  the  pur- 
poses of  tyrannizing  over  him ; the  second,  for  self- 
ish ends,  usurped  the  Creator's  place  by  the 
pretense  of  being  God's  vicegerent;  the  third  su- 
perseded all  revelation  from  Heaven  by  proclaiming 
the  sufficiency  of  mere  reason  to  pierce  the  arcana 
of  eternity.  The  Gospel  stands  alone  as  a remedy ; 
it  does  not  ignore  man's  relapse,  but  provides  for 
his  restoration,  irrespective  of  climate^  or  color,  or 
age,  or  sex,  or  any  other  possible  circumstance. 
Unlike  the  ancient  religions  of  the  Ganges  and  of 
Scandinavia — which  to  perish  needed  but  to  ex- 
change places — that  of  the  Gospel  fiourishes  with 
equal  bloom  amid  the  perpetual  snows  of  Russia  and 
in  the  long  Summers  of  the  tropics.  Let  us,  then, 
make  the  extension  of  this  everlasting  Gospel  com- 
mensurate with  its  applicability.  Let  us  rest  not 
till  the  whole  earth  becomes  an  altar,  the  afiections 
of  the  transformed  race  an  offering,  and  the  love  of 
Calvary  becomes  a kindling  fire — till  from  every 
heart  that  throbs  in  a human  bosom  pure  incense 
shall  arise  to  our  crucified  and  matchless  Restorer. 


XVIII. 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS: 

DELIVERED  ON  THE  DEPARTURE  OP  REV.  J.  R.  DOWNEY 
AND  WIFE  FOR  INDIA. 


Mr.  President  and  Friends,  — The  enterprise 
which  has  convoked  us  once  occupied  the  Trinity 
in  council  — not  a mission  from  America  to  India, 
but  a mission  from  heaven  to  earth;  the  missionary 
was  not  our  brother  with  his  companion,  but  God’s 
Son  with  our  wedded  nature;  it  was  not  for  the  re- 
demption of  a nation  in  Asia,  but  for  the  ransom  of 
all  that  inhabit  the  globe.  But  all  this  difference 
between  the  species  and  genus  removes  not  the 
kindredship  between  them.  Every  missionary  is  a 
worker  together  with  God.  His  acts  look  back  to 
the  redemptive  principle,  and  his  achievements  are 
illustrations  of  that  principle.  We  have  reached  a 
period  in  which  Christian  missions  to  foreign  lands 
are  largely  approved,  though  by  different  parties 
this  approval  is  on  various  grounds.  A large  class 
approving  them  do  it  solely  on  secular  grounds. 
The  greater  thrift  which  Christian  missions  have  se- 
cured to  pagan  communities  has  come  to  the  knowl- 

343 


344 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


edge  of  sucli  through  foreign  travels,  missionary- 
reports,  and  kindred  sources.  The  domestic  com- 
fort, neighborhood  schools,  printing-presses,  hospi- 
tals, and  churches,  have  made  mission  stations  an 
oasis  in  the  desert.  The  contributions  they  have 
made  to  geography,  natural  history,  and  to  geolog- 
ical phenomena  have  extorted  the  eulogies  of  these 
secularists. 

Meantime  missions  have  been  considered  on  an- 
other side  by  mere  philanthropists.  Such  eulogize 
them  in  their  literary  aspect.  Finding  that 
scores  of  languages,  otherwise  unknown,  have  by 
the  missionary  been  reduced  to  alphabetic  order 
and  handed  over  to  the  multiplying  agency  of  the 
press,  that  large  contributions  are  thus  made  to 
comparative  philology,  and  that  ethnology  has  been 
improved  from  the  same  source,  he  regards  missions 
as  the  handmaid  to  literature.  Viewing  missions 
from  a still  higher  point,  the  philanthropist,  with  a 
benignant  eye  on  the  elevating  processes  of  the 
school,  the  press,  and  the  Church  on  the  pagan 
mind,  pronounces  missions  the  friend  of  man,  judg- 
ing that  whatever  vanquishes  beastly  degradation, 
and  rekindles  the  light  of  long-extinguished  reason, 
must  be  an  unmitigated  good. 

The  development  of  such  facts  has  compelled  even 
the  freethinkers  of  England  to  pronounce  eulogies 
on  missions.  The  Westminster  Review  — that  me- 
dium for  English  deism  — ignores  tha,t  living  spirit 
from  which  missions  derive  all  their  energy,  and 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


345 


yet  declares  their  'Hrue  object  is  the  hope  of  rais- 
ing whole  nations  out  of  a state  of  idolatrous 
corruption  in  morals  into  a condition  of  Chris- 
tian civilization.”  How  unequivocal  must  be  these 
sublime  results  of  missions  to  extort  such  praise 
from  such  a source!  Still,  merely  their  human 
characteristics  are  here  recognized;  they  termin- 
ate the  crimes,  the  cruelties,  the  superstition  of 
paganism — being  an  element  of  social  power.  How 
consistently  these  gentlemen  eulogize  the  workings 
of  this  institution,  and  vilify  the  principle  from 
which  it  derives  all  its  energy,  we  leave  others  to 
determine.  To  sneer  at  the  cause  and  eulogize 
the  legitimate  effect;  to  suppose  the  Gospel  merely 
humaUj  and  yet  to  allow  that  it  works  out  a result 
to  which  no  other  human*  means  are  adequate;  to 
allow  that  it  strikes  at  the  root  of  deep-seated  vice, 
and  yet  itself  is  merely  a temporary  good;  to  do 
this  may  be  v/orthy  of  deism.  What  will  such 
thinkers  answer  when  you  put  the  questions  direct : 
Are  not  the  highest  interests  of  man  those  of  his 
spiritual  nature  ? Are  not  his  noblest  relations 
such  as  bind  him  to  a wasteless  future?  Must  not 
his  moral  elevation  of  character  demand  a propor- 
tionally-higher  allotment  in  the  endless  future  which 
is  bursting  upon  you?  Must  they  not  deny  to  man 
a nature  surviving  dissolution,  or  cease  to  elevate 
his  mere  civilization  above  that  etherealizing,  moral 
purity  which  allies  him  to  the  Great  Unseen? 
That  the  Gospel  assumes  an  adequacy  to  refine  the 


346 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


polluted  is  obtrusively  clear  on  the  very  face  of  it. 
If  this  power  do  not  invest  it  its  claim  is  an  impos- 
ture, and  it  could,  therefore,  never  impart  the  boon 
of  civilization  which-  even,  infidels  award  to  it.  It 
must  do  less  than  this,  or  it  must  be  able  to  do 
immeasurably  more.  The  monstrous  conclusion 
reached  by  this  secular  theory  of  missions  must  not 
escape  us — it  is  this:  that  idolatry  alone  needs  to 
be  vanquished,  and  that,  therefore,  it  does  not  in- 
volve the  most  degrading  vices.  Biblical  descrip- 
tion and  direct  observation  combine  with  ancient 
history  to  show  that  idolatry  is  but  one  of  the 
manifestations  of  the  profoundest  heart  corrup- 
tion. The  nations  of  Canaan,  the  Cities  of  the 
Plain,  are  divinely  represented  festering  in  their 
pollution,  as  specimens  of  idolaters.  No  new  proof 
can  be  demanded  that  polytheism  and  corruption 
are  commensurate.  No  true  picture  of  idolatry  was 
ever  without  the  most  revolting  features.  That 
drawn  by  Inspiration  (Rom.  chap,  i)  is  peculiar  to 
no  age  or  country.  It  is  true  the  lapse  of  twenty 
centuries  has  deepened  the  colors  of  that  dark  pic- 
ture. The  dreadful  leprosy,  instead  of  fading,  has 
become  more  deeply  struck  within.  When  Echart — 
the  missionary  to  Hindoostan — read  to  his  pagan 
audience  St.  Paul’s  catalogue  of  pagan  vices,  they 
confessed  the  exactitude  with  which  the  reality 
among  themselves  corresponded  to  the  delineation 
of  the  apostle.  ^^None  but  a personal  observer  of 
heathenism,”  adds  the  missionary,  ^^can  grasp  the 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS.  347 

full  import  of  those  inspired  epithets,  or  pronounce 
them  with  appropriate  depth  of  emphasis.” 

It  is  not  possible  that  the  murky  cloud  which  has 
shaded  pagan  lands  should  not  have  grown  denser 
through  all  the  past  apostolic  ages.  When  the 
celestial  message  first  stirred  the  stagnant  mass  the 
resistance  was  fierce,  but  its  scope  for  accumulation 
since  has  been  fearful.  This  class  fearfully  blunder 
in  the  conclusion  that  the  absence  of  virtue  is  not 
the  presence  of  vice.  Were  this  so  perfect  neutral- 
ity in  morals  would  be  possible,  leaving  a highly- 
endowed  intelligence  irresponsible.  The  secular 
theory  of  missions  in  question  is,  therefore,  amaz- 
ingly superficialj  not  having  a single  apprehension 
commensurate  to  heathen  character.  Had  the  Gos- 
pel no  higher  aim  than  to  civilize  it  would  certainly 
fail  to  do  this.  It  proclaims  the  regeneration  of  the 
heart  to  be  its  paramount  aim.  If  it  can  not  effect 
this  it  is  an  imposture,  and,  as  such,  can  not  do  the 
other.  That  must  be  a strange  view  of  God’s  gov- 
ernment which  supposes  it  can  employ  duplicity  to 
work  out  its  ennobling  designs.  Indeed,  were  there 
truth  in  the  secular  theory  no  missionary  would 
ever  enter  the  foreign  field.  The  speculating  trav- 
eler might  enter  it  to  listen  with  a curious  ear,  or 
inspect  with  an  eager  eye,  the  novel  scenes  of  be- 
nighted humanity;  he  might  flit  over  such  a realm 
like  a butterfly  across  a flowery  field,  but  never 
would  he  patiently  toil  with  the  benighted  to  van- 
quish his  ignorance  and  reconstruct  the  processes  of 


348 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


liis  faculties.  The  history  of  the  world  may  be 
challenged  to  furnish  a single  instance  of  all  the  in- 
fidels or  skeptics  on  earth  ever  sending  a single 
missionary  to  accomplish  for  the  heathen  that  civil- 
ization which  they  deem  the  highest  object  of  the 
Gospel.  The  fact  is  that  the  great  element  of  power 
which  works  deep  down  in  our  nature  is  utterly 
wanting  in  their  Wintery  scheme.  They  seem  in- 
stinctively aware  that  the  moment  the  secondary 
effect  of  the  Gospel  is  substituted  for  its  primary 
aim — the  instant  the  reflex  is  put  for  the  direct — 
both  vanish  together.  Indeed,  the  stupidity  is 
scarcely  endurable  of  supposing  that  the  reflex  in- 
fluence could  survive  for  one  moment  after  the 
primary  aim  is  canceled;  after  the  cause  is  anni- 
hilated, how  can  the  effect  continue  to  arise  from  it? 

This  broad  fact,  then,  is  highly  significant;  name- 
ly, that  the  advocates  of  this  secular  theory  have 
never,  in  one  instance,  experimented  on  its  eflicacy : 
this  alone  strongly  indicates  their  conviction  of  its 
powerlessness.  They  admit — ^through  the  Westmin- 
ster Eeview — that  ^Ghe  Christian  motive,  above  all 
others,  impels  the  missionary  on  in  his  work  of  sac- 
rifice;” but  how  can  this  motive,  which  they  main- 
tain to  be  false,  be  the  most  cogent  within  the 
sphere  of  philanthropy?  Is  the  moral  system  such 
that  its  interests  are  best  promoted  by  falsehood? 
They  allow  that  nothing  but  Christian  conviction 
can  create  an  imperative  feeling-  of  obligation  to  fly 
to  heathen  rescue ;”  and  yet  this  conviction  is  one 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


349 


only  of  pitiful  self-delusion.  If,  as  is  here  conceded, 
the  temporal  calamity  of  benighted  nations  can  not 
rouse  enlightened  races  to  relieve  them,  and  their 
rescue  from  eternal  agony  can,  is  this  more  quick- 
ening motive  a false  one?  Must  all  the  true  mo- 
tives within  the  range  of  thought  fail  to  prompt  to 
the  highest  achievements  of  humanity,  and  self-de- 
lusion alone  be  competent  to  do  it?  Restore  the 
process  to  its  Scriptural  order,  by  making  the  sal- 
vation of  the  soul  the  supreme  aim,  then  the  co- 
gency of  the  motive  accounts  for  the  loftiness  of  the 
achievement,  and  for  eveiy  incidental  effect  arising 
from  so  godlike  an  aim.  The  work  of  the  mission- 
ary is  to  let  into  pagan  mind  light  above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  sun;  not  in  its  blinding  floods,  but  in 
its  growing  intensity;  not  so  much  for  their 
perception  of  guilt — of  this  they  are  agonizingly 
aware — but  for  their  discovery  of  a remedy  of 
which  they  have  never  heard.  Conscious  they  are 
of  the  wrath  with  which  the  heavens  frown  over 
them ; but  how  that  wrath  can  be  made  to  melt 
away  into  a Divine  smile  they  know  not.  The 
missionary  utters  the  Divine  Restorer’s  name,  the 
gloom  breaks  away,  and  new  ends  of  existence  start 
into  light.  His  simple  assurance  that  God  can  bo 
just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Je- 
sus,” gives  a new  element  to  repentance,  justifying 
power  to  faith,  and  an  infinite  object  to  hope. 
Christian  missions  multiply  and  intensify  saving 
motives.  They  give  to  the  benighted  the  Bible, 


350 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


the  Sabbath,  the  ministry,  and  the  Church, 
Each  of  these  is  a powerfully-modifying  agency, 
and  together  they  soon  work  out  for  a community 
a new  social  system.  That  gloom  is  soon  van- 
quished which  concealed  the  purity  of  God's  justice, 
the  sanction  of  his  law,  the  depth  of  his  mercy,  and 
the  sublime  mystery  of  the  incarnation.  But  these 
spiritual  discoveries  are  so  far  from  precluding  an 
incidental  end  that  they  necessarily  issue  in  it. 
What  produces  inward  purity  to  the  converted  pa- 
gan through  this  secures  to  him  outward  thrift. 
This  effect  can  no  more  be  substituted  for  the  cause 
than  the  order  of  the  two  can  be  transposed.  The 
powerful  operation  of  the  Gospel  on  the  civil  and 
social  relations  of  man  is  through  the  viewdess 
agency  working  on  the  inner  man — the  one  is  sim- 
ply the  outward  manifestation  of  the  other.  The 
fountain  becoming  pure,  the  streams  are  sweet;  the 
character  of  the  fruit  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
tree;  the  purity  of  life  flows  from  the  sanctity  of 
the  heart,  and  not,  as  our  theorists  would  maintain, 
a manifestation  in  the  outer  man  of  what  was  not 
in  the  inner  man. 

But  as  India  is  the  destination  of  these  mission- 
aries, a few  utterances  regarding  that  ancient  land 
may  be  proper.  In  one  aspect  India  is  interesting — 
there  Hindooism  stands  alone,  as  it  has  stood  for 
thousands  of  years;  it  is  the  fact  of  a living  an- 
tiquity of  a high  order.  What  other  human  institu- 
tion of  so  early  date  has  not  long  been  among  the 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRES^. 


361 


things  that  were?  But  for  the  perpetuating  voice 
of  history  it  would  now  be  as  though  it  had  never 
been.  But  this  Hindooism,  hoary  with  the  frosts 
of  a hundred  ages,  is  now  what  it  was  when  Alex- 
ander invaded  the  Indies.  What  must  be  the  rigor 
of  that  system  which  has  sustained  that  physical 
and  intellectual  life  of  the  nation  in  spite  of  its 
crushing  errors  and  abominable  idolatry ! This  in- 
stitution, stretching  through  so  large  a portion  of 
man's  history,  makes  India  a field  of  interest  to  all 
earnest  inquirers.  Here  the  ethnologist  finds  scope 
of  his  researches.  Here  the  Scriptural  interpreter 
and  antiquarian  will  not  be  disappointed.  Compar- 
ative philology  no  where  else  finds  more  materials 
than  in  India.  There  lies  the  Sanscrit,  dead  but 
unburied,  the  parent  language  of  all  the  classic 
tongues.  Of  little  less  antiquity  is  the  Tamils  in 
its  two  dialects.  This  is  the  depository  of  all  the 
science,  literature,  and  religion  of  the  land.  Here 
is  that  Hindoo  philosophy  to  which,  as  to  its  source, 
the  ancient  Greek  philosophy  is  traceable.  Of  Pla- 
to's philosophy  it  is  truly  asserted  ■ that  ^^he  made 
the  Orient  its  basis  and  the  Occident  its  super- 
structure." This  mysterious  Hindooism  hinges  on 
many  Bible  facts  and  truths  at  numerous  points. 
In  its  earliest  stage  it  synchronizes  with  some  of 
the  remotest  events  recorded  of  the  postdiluvians, 
embodying  many  of  the  characteristics  of  Abraham, 
Moses,  and  of  Noah,  and  those  of  many  other  Bible 

worthies.  These  the  archaeologist  will  trace  to  their 

30 


352 


Li;CTUBES  AND  ADDKESSES. 


sacred  source,  and  will  be  amazed  to  find  at  the 
basis  of  this  system  of  monstrous  error  some  of  the 
great  truths  revealed  from  heaven.  Among  these 
are  monotheism,  the  souhs  immortality,  the  great 
redemption,  and  the  like.  But  these  are  so  inter- 
mingled and  diluted  with  debasing  error,  or  so  con- 
cealed by  false  metaphysics,  as  to  be  powerless  to 
save,  while  they  impart  vitality  to  the  errors  which 
debase  them.  But  stereotyped  as  Hindooism  has 
been  for  many  ages,  it  has  internal  evidences  that 
it  was  long  in  a forming  state.  Vishnu  is  often 
represented  by  it  as  crushing  the  serpent’s  head, 
and  as  being  wounded  by  it — where  the  allusion  is 
direct  to  the  first  page  of  man’s  moral  history; 
while  there  are  not  traces  wanting  of  the  apostolic 
agency  in  that  ancient  land,  showing  that  centuries 
measured  the  growth  of  Hindooism.  Tour  mission- 
aries may  exhume  these  fragmentary  truths  from 
the  rubbish  of  two  thousand  years,  and  appropriate 
them  to  the  great  purposes  of  their  mission.  But  I 
must  not  terminate  these  remarks  without  a few 
utterances  to  these  self-sacrificing  missionaries. 

My  dear  brother  and  sister:  the  peculiarity  of 
our  present  meeting  is  derived,  in  part,  from  the 
speed  and  permanency  of  our  parting,  and,  in  part, 
from  the  grandeur  and  solemnity  of  the  object 
which  separates  us.  You  have  now  reached  the 
point  where  your  pilgrimage  with  civilized  man 
must  terminate.  Your  departure,  though  not  to 
another  planet,  is  to  another  continent,  where  hu- 


A MISSIONAJIY  ADDRESS. 


363 


manity  is  all  unlike  its  phases  with  which  you  have 
been  acquainted.  There  the  rigorous  Winter  of 
heathenism  has  for  thirty  centuries  been  congealing 
the  moral  sympathies  of  the  nations ; there  the 
utter  perversion  of  man’s  noblest  powers  has  been 
almost  completed.  How  far  you  will  be  shocked  in 
comparing  this  bright  eminence  on  which  the  sun 
of  revealed  light  pours  its  floods,  with  that  dark 
valley  on  which  no  beam  has  fallen,  experience  must 
declare.  In  reaching  the  grand  purpose  of  foreign 
missionaries  you  have  doubtless  enumerated  the  en- 
deared objects  you  are  to  leave — the  tender  associa- 
tions of  life’s  morning — the  bright  objects  which 
your  own  young  affections  bathed  in  their  radi- 
ancy. Still,  there  is  a binding  unity  which  is  de- 
fiant of  both  space  and  duration ; that  unity  be- 
longs to  the  system  under  which  we  act,  to  the 
kingdom  we  promote,  and  to  the  agents  of  our  re- 
deeming Sovereign;  that  unity  will  be  ours  after 
thousands  of  miles  shall  have  divided  us.  When 
we  shall  no  more  hear  your  voices,  or  see  your 
faces,  or  listen  to  the  footfall  of  your  returning 
steps — then,  when  we  shall  bow  at  our  Christian 
altars,  and  you  kneel  amid  pagan  temples,  our 
voices  mingling  with  yours,  will,  in  the  highest 
heavens,  reach  the  same  ear  and  the  same  heart. 

The  Church,  then,  through  my  lips,  would  bid 
you  go  far  hence,  and,  as  her  messengers,  to  grap- 
ple with  the  giant  power  of  idolatry — to  face  the 
storm  and  breast  the  flood — to  bravely  toil  and,  if 


354 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


need  be,  to  die  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
And  with  one  fervent,  importunate,  and  perpetual 
prayer,  the  Church  will  ask  that  his  grace  may  in- 
spire you,  and  that  when  the  bright  array  of  his 
servants  shall  homeward  return,  who  have  culti- 
vated many  a field  on  the  darkest  pagan  shores — 
that  then  the  stars  in  your  crown  may  be  numerous, 
shining  forever  and  ever  to  your  Master’s  honor. 
Under  the  pressure  of  these  mighty  claims  you  will 
not  be  detained  by  those  numerous  voices  which 
say.  Stay  for  us.  Among  these  voices  is  the  tender- 
est  sound — not  from  the  companions  of  your  youth- 
ful pilgrimage — not  from  your  classmates  in  school 
or  Church — not  even  from  your  younger  brothers, 
who  tearfully  say.  We  shall  see  our  sister  no 
more — but  from  those  parental  lips  which  quiver 
in  the  utterance.  There,  behind  the  parents’  vale- 
dictory words,  lies  a depth  of  emotion  which  no  line 
has  measured,  which  no  distance,  no  duration  can 
exhaust;  there  it  glows  in  its  ineffable  intensity 
and  beauty — through  the  lapse  of  years,  change  of 
manners,  loss  of  fortune,  decline  of  health,  and  dis- 
tance of  place — through  all  the  mutations  of  time — • 
there  it  glows  warm  and  quenchless  as  the  sun  in 
the  heavens.  There  is  no  love  which  exceeds  it 
but  that  of  the  Eedeemer. 

May  he  who  gave  his  Son  to  ransom  the  hea- 
then sustain  these  parents  who  give  their  daughter 
to  apply  that  ransom! 


XIX. 


THE  MISSIONARY  WORK: 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  ON  THE  DEPARTURE  OF  REV. 
P.  T.  WILSON  AS  A MISSIONARY  TO  INDIA. 


Mr.  President, — The  occasion  that  has  assem- 
bled us  is  not  aimless;  it  borrows  grandeur  from 
the  object  we  would  promote.  This  is  the  third 
occasion  within  a sinde  term  on  which  our  tears 

o 

and  triumphs  have  mingled.  The  third  member 
of  our  Institute  has  just  uttered  his  farewell  on 
his  departure  for  the  same  distant  field.  By  this 
threefold  cord  the  '^School  of  the  Prophets’’  will 
long  be  strongly  bound  to  the  mission  in  India. 
The  same  great  field  has  been  entered  by  laborers 
from  our  sister  institution  of  Concord — that  brilliant 
^^star  in  the  East.”  Indeed,  the  noble  superin- 
tendent of  that  mission  acquired  his  discipline  and 
imbibed  his  divine  philanthropy  in  a kindred  in- 
stitution beyond  the  stormy  ocean.  Should  this 
school  — founded  by  that  sainted  lady  who  has 
ascended  to  a hight  from  which  she  can  watch 
the  field  it  supplies  — continue  to  furnish  mission- 
aries in  the  same  ratio,  before  the  flight  of  a single 

355 


356  - 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


century  they  will  occupy  a field  on  which  the  sun 
of  Nature  never  sets.  Ascended  sister,  never  shall 
a commissioned  youth  pass  from  our  halls  to  pagan 
shores  without  making  our  praises  to  Him  who 
prompted  your  contribution  to  his  preparation ! 
Should  the  mysterious  laws  of  departed  saints 
permit  your  scrutiny  of  what  is  now  passing,  we 
bid  you  hail  as  a participant  in  our  joy,  and  as 
the  divinely-prompted  instrument  of  this  joy! 

And  permit  me  to  remind  you  who  are  benefi- 
ciaries of  this  munificence,  that  in  the  great  mis- 
sion of  life  sacrifices  and  honors  are  commensurate; 
especially  is  this  so  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
ministry.  When  the  minister  aims  at  little  he  ac- 
complishes less;  when  he  sacrifices  nothing  he  wins 
nothing;  when  he  dares  to  cast  away  nothing  for 
his  Master  he  accomplishes  nothing  for  the  race. 
But  resigning  the  whole  world,  with  its  wealth 
and  wisdom,  pride  and  pleasure,  ease  and  power, 
he  writes  his  name  in  letters  of  light  high  on  the 
scroll  of  sacred  honor.  So  that  to  lose  nothing  is 
to  gain  nothing,  and  to  sacrifice  every  thing  is  to 
win  every  thing. 

When  the  Macedonian  conqueror  with  his  noble 
phalanx  landed  in  Asia  he  ordered  the  destruction 
of  his  fleet,  deeming  the  destruction  of  his  forces 
less  calamitous  than  their  cowardly  flight.  In  ac- 
cepting this  appointment,  my  brother,  you  must 
also  cut  off  all  means  of  retreat  from  the  conflict. 
Like  Caesar,  having  passed  the  Eubicon,  victory  or 


THE  MISSIONARY  WORK. 


357 


defeat  is  a stern  necessity.  You  are  the  messenger  of 
the  Church,  through  which  its  great  Head  says,  Be- 
hold, I send  thee  far  hence!”  Since  the  ancient  East 
has  unbarred  its  thousand  gates  to  God’s  heralds, 
the  heart  of  the  Church  has  throbbed  for  its  speedy 
enlightenment.  She  looks  with  strained  eyes,  with 
fervent  hope  for  the  apostolic  achievements  of  her 
messengers.  Their  failure  would  extort  her  groans; 
their  success  kindle  her  rapture,  and  accelerate  the 
world  s moral  rescue.  You  will  not  regard  me  as 
placing  an  extinguisher  on  your  zeal  when  I advert 
to  the  twofold  aspect  in  which  it  is  possible  to  re- 
gard the  missionary  enterprise.  It  has  a romantiG 
side  and  an  evangelical  side.  The  poetry  of  foreign 
missions  glows  and  charms  in  the  incipiency  of  the 
enterprise.  In  the  weeping  farewell  of  a thousand 
kindred  voices,  in  the  wild  scenes  of  an  ocean  voy- 
age, in  the  new  stars  kindled  in  the  canopy  of  a 
strange  heaven  which  may  arch  the  distant  field, 
in  the  development  of  hitherto  unknown  character- 
istics in  man  as  a pagan,  in  the  intense  gaze  of  ten 
thousand  eyes  fixed  on  the  far-off  heroic  stranger — 
in  these  and  kindred  novelties  the  most  alluring 
charm  may  be  felt.  But  this  romance  is  only  the 
prelude,  not  the  scene  to  be  enacted.  No  sooner 
does  the  stern  reality  of  the  work  become  a matter 
of  experience  than  the  bow  fades  from  the  heavens, 
and  its  bewitching  beauty  becomes  a sullen  blank. 
The  reality  of  your  work  will  be  cold,  exhaust- 
ing, and  revolting.  You  must  first  pass  that  great 


358 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


gulf  dividing  between  your  language  and  that  in 
which  you  are  to  deliver  your  message;  you  are 
next  to  master  those  ancient  manners  and  customs, 
those  peculiar  habits  of  thought  and  complicated 
superstitions,  which  are  stereotyped  by  the  indura- 
ting processes  of  ages;  these  have  choked  almost 
every  avenue  of  truth  to  the  heart. 

In  spite  of  all  these  obstacles,  the  change  to  be 
wrought  in  individual  minds  is  greater  than  the 
revolution  of  a kingdom.  In  the  face  of  these 
sternly-resisting  influences  — which  have  accumu- 
lated vigor  for  thousands  of  years — your  work  is 
to  reconstruct  society  on  a new  substratum.  Nor 
is  it  unfit,  my  brother,  to  premonish  you  of  the 
contrasts  between  your  ministry  here  and  in  hea- 
thendom. Here  you  sustain  to  society  the  relation 
of  affinity;  there  of  repugnance.  Here  the  very 
air  is  redolent,  sweetened  by  fragrance  streaming 
from  higher  worlds;  there  it  is  poisoned  by  the 
odor  of  superstition,  which  ages  have  intensified. 
Here  the  minister's  hope  of  success  is  kindled  by 
the  graciously-quickened  state  of  men's  moral  sensi- 
bilities; there  these  susceptibilities  have  been  wast- 
ing for  ages  under  the  dreadful  blight  of  obdurating 
superstition.  But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  appall- 
ing obstacles  you  are  to  labor  in  hope;  because 
you  are  allied  to  an  agency  to  which  no  obstacle 
is  insurmountable — an  agency  involving  an  all-com- 
prehending atonement,  an  all-embracing  promise  of 
its  efiiciency,  and  the  unity  of  all  branches  of  the 


THE  MISSIONARY  WORK. 


359 


race  — an  agency  proclaimed  by  ancient  promise, 
and  described  by  evangelical  history.  Though  this 
agency  may  seem  slow,  still  is  it  sure  in  its  opera- 
tion. The  seed  you  shall  sow  may  require  more 
than  a Summer  for  the  production  of  a harvest; 
in  the  Lord’s  harvest-field  ages  may  intervene  be- 
tween sowing  and  reaping;  but  the  germinant  vi- 
tality of  the  seed  you  deposit  in  pagan  soil,  like 
that  of  the  wheat  in  the  Egyptian  pyramid,  may, 
after  the  lapse  of  ages,  be  productive.  Watered  by 
the  sower’s  tears,  and  fanned  by  the  Spirit’s  breath, 
and  quickened  by  the  beams  of  the  eternal  sun,  it 
shall  arise  in  a golden  harvest,  and  finally  wave 
before  the  angelic  reapers.  And,  if  not  before, 
when  the  lights  of  time  shall  grow  dim  with  age, 
the  fruit  of  your  labor,  like  distant  chroniclers, 
shall  record  your  achievements  as  connected  with 
a thousand  others  who  shall  have  contributed  to 
the  redemption  of  India. 

And  now,  my  dear  brother,  at  this  parting  hour 
we  would  profoundly  feel  with  you  that  it  is  not  in 
the  distance  of  place  or  of  time  to  sunder  or  even 
weaken  the  ties  of  kindred  minds.  Though  these 
are  strengthened  and  brightened  by  identity  of 
habitation  and  frequency  of  intercourse,  yet  what 
is  essential  to  sanctified  humanity  is  defiant  of 
mere  circumstances,  and  can  appropriate  such  as 
are  most  malign  to  its  own  elevation.  Even  the 
distance  of  time  and  place  may  become  a medium 
of  augmenting  our  mutual  interest.  This  mysterious 


360 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


distance,  which  adheres  only  to  the  finite,  is  power- 
less to  extinguish  that  Christian  love  whose  origin 
and  aliment  are  in  the  Infinite.  Like  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  globe,  the  sympathy  of  heavenly  minds 
binds  all  to  their  great  center.  We  shall  be  apart 
in  body,  not  in  mind — in  persons,  not  in  purposes. 
On  that  far-off  shore,  where  superstition  has  long 
reigned  alone,  you  will  doubtless  feel  the  moral 
chill  of  a midnight  hour  upon  you.  This  may 
even  intensify  when  )mur  work  is  done — when  you 
shall  lie  down  to  die;  for  then  the  past  becomes 
present,  and  you  will  contrast  the  bright  visions 
of  this  Gospel  land  with  that  starless  sky  which 
canopies  those  pagan  realms.  But  other  visions 
will  also  open  on  that  hour  of  transition  — as  the 
field  of  your  toil  had  been  dark,  the  heavens  that 
opep  above  you  shall  be  bright.  Go  then,  my 
brother,  with  the  blessings  of  the  Church  accom- 
panying you,  to  toil,  and  sacrifice,  and  die  in  that 
same  enterprise  which  brought  the  great  Eestorer 
from  the  highest  heavens. 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY  ADAPTED  TO  EFFECT  MAN’S 
REDEMPTION. 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  MISSIONARY  SOCI- 
ETY OF  LAWRENCE  UNIVERSITY. 


• Mr.  President  and  Friends, — The  great  cause 
of  Christian  missions  which  has  convened  us  de- 
rives its  importance  from  the  cardinal  truths  which 
it  assumes.  Among  these  are  the  religious  faculty 
of  man,  the  moral  blight  which  has  fallen  on  his 
nature,  the  sovereign  remedy  for  that  disease,  the 
universality  of  man's  susceptibility  of  that  remedy, 
and  that  the  living  Voice  of  the  commissioned  her- 
alds is  the  appointed  channel  through  which  it  is 
to  be  applied.  That  numerous  schemes  have  been 
invented  to  repair  this  depredation  we  are  certain. 
We  would  test  their  right  to  the  claim  by  a com- 
mon standard.  That,  and  that  only,  which  proves 
itself  fitted  to  the  restoration  of  the  morally  fallen 
can  endure  the  test  It  must  be  truthful  in  all  its 
relations  to  the  universe,  as  those  relations  are  no 
less  in  harmony  than  the  attributes  of  the  God- 
head— any  restoring  scheme  in  conflict  with  them 
must  be  spurious.  Its  apparent  adaptation  to  re- 


362 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


store  a part  of  men  and  not  all  men  would  either 
be  the  denial  of  the  unity  of  the  race,  or  proof  of 
its  own  falsity.  Whatever  secures  the  adaptation 
of  religion  to  one  man  must  to  all  men — whatever 
fits  it  for  one  class  must  for  all  classes — for  one  cli- 
mate, can  not  fail  to  do  it  for  all  climates — for  one 
age,  for  all  ages.  It  must  find  no  invincible  ob- 
stacle in  the  whole  range  of  human  history.  It 
must  be  intelligible  to  the  masses  because  they  are 
the  masses — the  majority.  If  the  mind  in  its  very 
structure  requires  evidence  of  what  it  believes,  a 
religion  to  save  it  must  place  its  proofs  on  the  low- 
est level  of  human  intelligence.  But  here  you  will 
not  mistake  me  by  supposing  the  presence  of  evi- 
dence is  the  absence  of  mystery.  The  evidence  of 
Divine  truth  is  seen  less  in  itself  than  in  the  mira- 
cles that  authenticate  it.  This  is  the  proof  we 
claim  for  the  Gospel  you  are  sending  to  the  hea- 
then, and  it  is  the  very  proof  we  deny  to  all  sys- 
tems competing  with  the  Gospel.  ^^Superstition'' 
is  the  cognomen  of  all  uninvested  with  this  super- 
natural proof.  We  deny  'it  to  ^^Islamismf  which 
for  ages  never  pretended  to  be  founded  on  miracles. 
We  deny  it  to  the  Papacy,  which,  as  a hierarchal 
scheme,  rests  on  the  most  monstrous  usurpations, 
superseding  the  highest  provisions  of  Christianity, 
claiming  those  very  prerogatives  which  it  vilifies. 

But  is  there  not  an  intelligibility  in  the  Chris- 
tian faith  when  studied  merely  in  its  own  unvar- 
nished records  ? It  has  a fullness  of  proof  in  those 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


363 


facts  and  principles  which  have  been  gathered  and 
evolved  by  the  toil  and  talent  of  ages;  but  it  also 
has  convincing  evidence  spread  like  a sheet  of 
light  over  the  face  of  its  records.  I will  dare  to 
ask  you  what  earnest  inquirer  ever  pored  over  the 
four  Gospels  without  finding  the  truth  of  their  con- 
tents in  the  manner  of  their  statements — without 
finding  that  inefiable  truthfulness  which,  like  the 
intuition  of  sense,  has  its  proof  in  itself?  What 
earnest  inquirer  ever  studied  the  picture  they  draw 
of  the  inner  man  without  the  spontaneous  exclama- 
tion, This  is  the  very  heart  which  beats  in  my 
bosom!  Inde^,  there  is  not  a lesson  of  this  kind 
taught  by  these  Oracles  which  is  not  fully  corrobo- 
rated by  conscience.  The  lessons  they  both  teach 
on  the  nature  of  morality  are  not  many,  but  the 
•'same.  The  same,  principle  underlying  God's  Ora- 
cles and  man's  conscience  throbs  with  the  pulsations 
of  divine  life.  In  the  nature  of  these  evidences  is 
thus  found  the  adaptation  of  the  scheme  to  the 
masses  of  the  race.  This  suggests  that  other  point 
of  adaptation  which  it  has  to  the  poor.  They, 
being  the  majority  of  men,  could,  by  a divinely-re- 
storing system,  never  be  left  unprovided  for.  A 
prophetic  characteristic  of  the  Gospel  was,  it  was  to 
be  preached  to  the  poor.  Till  this  great  elevator 
came  through  the  gates  of  light  to  uplift  humanity, 
what  indignity  was  not  done  to  the  poor?  — the 
tools  of  ambition,  the  instruments  of  luxury,  the 
victims  of  oppression,  the  objects  of  bitter  scorn. 


364 


LECTUKES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


were  they.  But  Christ  had  no  sooner  lighted  on 
the  globe  than  the  scene  changed.  By  his  scheme 
all  men  were  placed  on  an  equal  footing  in  the  in- 
herited elements  of  their  nature — all  were  shown  to 
be  equally  rich  in  susceptibilities  of  moral  govern- 
ment and  of  endless  bliss  in  the  highest  sphere  of 
glorified  humanity.  Had  it  not  thus  grouped  to- 
gether the  entire  race,  its  final  failure  must  have 
been  utter.  The  moral  deliverer  of  this  class  is 
made  a thousand  times  more  welcome  by  the  crush- 
ing burden  which  had  previously  pressed  upon  it. 

Another  characteristic  of  a religion  for  the  race 
must  be  such  as  will  work  out  for  it  mutual  rights. 

As  the  fatherhood  of  God  must  involve  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  it  must  recognize  the  common  apos- 
tasy, the  common  redemption,  the  common  heav-  ^ 
enly  succor,  so  that  it  may  be  adequate  to  bestow, 
not  equality  of  circumstantial  condition,  but  an 
equality  of  human  rights.  Though  these  have  been 
confounded  by  the  advocates  of  heathen  caste  in 
Christian  society,  their  distinctness  is  too  palpable  to 
admit  of  discussion.  When  the  spirit  of  our  Chris- 
tianity has  thoroughly  permeated  the  race,  then 
will  its  injunction.  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself, 
become  a universal  realization.  The  Christian  sys- 
tem regards  the  domestic  and  civil  institutions 
no  less  of  God  than  the  Church  organism;  so  that 
parental  authority  and  law-enforcing  power  are 
divine,  and  Christianity  demands,  with  trumpet 
tongue,  that  all  do  that  toward  others  which  ^^s 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


365 


just  and  equal!'  Could  it  sanction  oppression  it 
would  be  founded  in  tyranny,  and  must  flee  away 
at  the  approach  of  the  Great  White  Throne.  But 
its  radical  principle  is  a thunderbolt  to  crush  all 
usurpation. 

In  characterizing  the  Gospel  which  you  send  to 
the  heathen,  I must  not  fail  to  advert  to  its  re- 
storing provisions.  This  remedial  distinctive  is  not 
incidental,  but  fundamental  to  it.  Every  heart 
painfully  knows  that  as  soon  may  the  shadow  for- 
sake the  substance  as  apprehended  penalty  be  apart 
from  felt  delinquency.  If  violated  government  and 
free  pardon  ever  concur  without  the  overthrow  of 
authority,  redemption  must  interfere.  But  whence 
redemption?  The  solemn  echo  answers.  Whence? 
All  voices  were  silent.  The  Divine  utterances  on  the 
theme  were  so  shrouded  in  symbol  that  it  required 
the  fulfillment  of  prophecy  to  certify  its  import. 
A clear  solution  of  the  enigma  was  finally  made  by 
the  Restorer's  own  mysterious  appearance,  which 
made  it  certain  that  God  could  be  just  and  the  jus- 
tifler  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus — that  the  ends 
of  penalty  could  be  answered  without  the  infliction 
of  penalty.  Because  the  elements  of  this  stupen- 
dous scheme  can  be  scrutinized  only  as  facts  and  not 
as  connected  parts  of  a measureless  whole,  this  does 
not  impair  its  efficiency,  as  it  is  a necessity  of  lim- 
ited minds  grappling  with  depths  beyond  them. 
Should  it  not  suffice  to  know  that  Jehovah  can  be 
both  just  and  exorable — that  broken  law  can  be  up- 


366 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


held  without  the  infliction  of  its  penalty — that  the 
offender  can  have  impunity  without  becoming  auda- 
cious— that  justice  and  pardon  can  harmonize  when 
their  cooperation  is  preceded  by  repentance?  Is  it 
not  enough  to  grasp  these  thrilling  facts  without 
being  able  to  trace  the  ethereal  connections  between 
them  ? This  redemptive  characteristic  of  Chris- 
tianity clothes  it  with  a grandeur  and  solitude 
which  must  forever  keep  it  apart  from  all  other  re- 
ligions, and  leave  it  alone  adapted  to  the  race. 

Cast  a piercing  glance  at  the  Papacy,  and  you 
will  see  that  it  virtually  rejects  these  merits  by 
making  them  availing  ^^only  on  the  ground  of  pen- 
ance''— at  Mohammedanism,  and  you  will  find  that 
expressly  rejects  them  by  affirming  that  God  se- 
cretly took  Christ  to  heaven,  and  that  another  died 
in  his  stead,  leaving  the  faithful  to  be  saved  through 
their  own  sufferings.  Nor  will  you  find  in  all  the 
modifications  of  heathenism  a shadow  of  this  fun- 
damental redemptive  principle.  Its  whole  interces- 
sory provision  consists  of  intermediate  demons,  not 
furnishing  a ground  of  man's  access  to  God,  but 
merely  a means  of  it  — not  on  the  Kestorer's 
death,  but  on  the  offender's  tortures  must  he  rely. 
The  extent  to  which  these  pacify  conscience  is  pro- 
claimed by  the  midnight  horrors  of  their  bloody 
' rites. 

Another  characteristic  of  a universally-applicable 
religion  is  its  intrinsic  provision  for  self-propaga- 
tion. Many  a system-maker  has  theorized  beauti- 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


367 


fully  on  the  fittest  means  morally  to  elevate  the 
race.  The  artSy  social  institutionSy  litcraturCy  and 
commerce  have  all  been  eulogized  as  the  mighty 
means  of  man's  perfection.  Their  claim  may  be 
tested  both  historically  and  intrinsically.  Indeed, 
in  both  these  regards  they  have  been  tested,  and 
the  failure  of  the  experiment  has  been  complete. 

But  the  Gospel  never  enthrones  itself  in  the  ex- 
perienced heart  without  generating  the  fervid  de- 
sire for  its  universal  diffusion.  A beam  of  light 
was  never  more  aggressive  in  the  territory  of  dark- 
ness than  the  felt  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the  bosom  it 
sways. 

The  deistical  sympathizers  with  the  Westminster 
Eeview — number  for  1856 — eulogize  missions,  from 
a secular  stand-point,  as  the  civilizers  of  savage  hu- 
manity'' Now,  we  have  no  conflict  with  these 
gentlemen  on  this  question ; we  concede  the  fact 
that  missions  civilize  savages;  we  maintain,  with 
the  philologist,  that  they  extend  the  knowledge  of 
languages — with  the  philanthropist,  that  the  school. 
Church,  and  press  vanquish  the  horrors  of  pagan- 
ism; but  we  also  maintain,  with  St.  Paul,  that  the 
Gospel  translates  men  from  death  to  life.  How 
shall  we  characterize  these  freethinkers,  who  lavish 
their  praise  on  these  legitimate  workings  of  the 
Gospel,  and  stigmatize  the  Gospel  itself  as  mere 
superstition— awarding  to  it  the  highest  power  of 
social  regeneration,  and  yet  sneering  at  it  ^^as  re- 
quiring an  easy  faith,"  as  though  sweet  streams 


368 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


could  emanate  from  a bitter  fountain ! That  theory 
makes  the  monstrous  assumption  that  polytheism 
may  be  apart  from  pollution — that  idolatry  does  not 
necessarily  involve  degrading  vice.  Though  this  is 
in  the  face  of  all  history,  and  of  innate  tendency, 
still  is  it  vital  to  the  theory.  It  rejects  the  Gospel 
power  to  renew  the  heart,  while  it  proclaims  its 
agency  to  reform  the  manners,  ignoring  the  fact 
that  the  absence  of  virtue  is  the  presence  of  vice — 
that  neutrality  in  a moral  agent  is  an  impossibility. 

Let  me  challenge  the  freethinkers  of  every  age  to 
identify  a single  instance  of  a missionary  being  sent 
by  them  to  civilize  the  heathen.  Believing,  as  they 
do,  that  civilization  is  the  highest  boon  to  man, 
why  have  they  never  employed  an  agency  to  bestow 
it?  This  fact  betrays  a secret  want  of  confidence 
in  all  reformatory  agencies  which  leave  the  heart 
unchanged.  Well  may  you  confide  in  that  grand 
scheme  to  improve  the  lower  nature  and  narrower 
interests  of  men,  which,  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, has  poured  a flood  of  purity  on  the  myriads 
of  the  ransomed. 

But  the  SUBJECTIVE  fitness  of  the  Gospel  should 
not  escape  us.  Unlike  all  other  religions,  the  tend- 
encies of  its  facts  are  in  harmony  with  the  re- 
quirements of  its  precepts.  These  precepts,  though 
often  most  particular,  accord  with  the  fundamental 
principles.  How  nicely  it  adjusts  its  claims  to  our 
sensitive  nature,  interdicting  alike  austerity  and 
licentiousness,  is  seen  by  its  utmost  avoidance  of  the 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


369 


opposing  extremes.  It  dwells  on  the  Divine  moral 
perfections  in  a manner  exactly  adapted  to  raise 
our  moral  nature  to  the  same  elevation,  present- 
ing the  exercise  of  his  benignity  as  our  model.  Its 
relation  to  human  conscience  is  entirely  unique, 
adapted  to  secure  both  its  activity  and  tranquil- 
lity, both  of  which  have  never  coexisted  under  the 
management  of  any  other  system.  Christianity 
satisfies  our  moral  sense  of  justice,  which  is  so 
shocked  by  the  inequality  of  God’s  administration 
to  society;  showing  us  that  this  being  the  proba- 
tionary and  not  the  retributive  state,  the  law  of 
compensation  will  operate  in  the  life  to  come. 

The  Gospel  you  send  to  the  heathen  indicates  its 
claim  to  deserved  universality  by  its  nicely-adjusted 
claims  on  man’s  sensitive  nature,  interdicting  alike 
austerity  on  the  one  hand  and  all  licentiousness  on 
the  other.  Nor  is  it  a less  striking  fact  in  the 
Gospel  that  it  presents  moral  perfection  in  God  ex- 
actly adapted  to  raise  the  moral  nature  of  man  to- 
ward the  same  Divine  eminence.  To  facilitate  this 
elevation  it  embodies  the  abstract  standard  of  excel- 
lency into  practical  life,  making  our  Living  Head'' 
our  exact  pattern.  Its  peculiarity  is  no  where 
more  striking  than  in  its  relations  to  human  con- 
science. Its  truths  are  so  related  to  this  faculty  as 
to  secure  to  it  both  activity  and  peace.  Many  a 
system  has  given  it  peace,  but  it  was  only  in  its 
slumbers;  others  have  roused  it  to  activity,  but 
only  to  inflict  torment.  The  Gospel  alone  gives  it 


370 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


activity  by  the  overpowering  motives  to  action  and 
peace,  by  its  imparted  purity.  The  Grospel  should 
go  to  the  whole  race,  because  that  alone  can  satisfy 
the  moral  sense  of  justice  which  is  so  shocked  by 
the  disorders  of  society.  That  alone  unvails  the 
mystery  by  pointing  to  a retributive  scene  beyond 
this  mingled  allotment. 

Another  characteristic  of  this  divine  scheme  is, 
it  stains  man's  pride  while  it  kindles  his  hope. 
Indeed,  it  sinks  him  into  the  deepest  humility  in 
order  that  it  may  excite  the  loftiest  aspirations. 
Among  many  more  kindred  distinctions  I will  only 
name  love.  To  this  noblest  of  all  principles  the 
Gospel  makes  its  highest  appeals.  Its  foundation — 
the  atonement — was  laid  in  love;  the  principle  on 
which  it  is  propagated  is  love ; the  conquest  it  is 
to  achieve  is  the  extinction  of  hate;  the  cement  by 
which  it  will  unite  the  ransomed  universe  is  love. 
What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  from  this  objective 
and  subjective  fitness  of  the  Gospel  to  regenerate 
the  race?  Is  it  possible  to  doubt  the  grand  aim 
of  its  mission,  or  not  to  feel  surprise  that  its 
friends  have  not  more  accelerated  its  movements 
toward  that  lofty  consummation? 

One  palpable  inference  from  all  these  considera- 
tions is,  that  if  Christian  missions  fail  to  save  the 
race  nothing  else  can  save  it.  Civilization  with  all 
its  appliances  may  go  forth,  like  the  morning  light, 
to  pervade  the  globe,  but  it  can  never  hush  the 
bowlings  of  sin,  remove  its  frightful  deformities,  or 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


371 


heal  the  wound  of  the  world.  This  achievement 
belongs  to  no  other  agency  beneath  the  heavens 
than  Christ’s  servants,  wielding  his  inspired  Word. 
For  ages  pious  lips  have  inquired,  with  agonizing 
earnestness,  ^^What  shall  be  done  to  make  redeem- 
ing provisions  availing  to  the  race?”  Never  was 
the  answer  less  embarrassed  than  at  this  moment. 
Doors  never  before  opened  to  the  Gospel  are  now 
unbarred.  Japan,  the  most  highly-civilized  of  the 
pagan  nations,  welcomes  our  missionaries  to  the 
millions  of  her  people.  Central  Africa  has  just 
developed  her  accessibility  to  Christian  agency. 
The  moral  wall  of  China,  high  as  heaven  for 
ages,  has  crumbled;  and  this  change  has  thrown 
open  to  the  Gospel  one-third  of  our  whole  race. 
The  suppression  of  the  bloody  outbreak  of  India 
has  reopened  its  populous  realms  to  the  banished 
servants,  to  which  they  are  now  returning  with  re- 
kindled hopes.  A mighty  struggle  has  fully  com- 
menced in  the  heart  of  Europe  for  that  freedom 
from  Roman  superstition  which  will  give  the  Gospel 
to  the  States  of  the  Church. 

These  are  among  the  signs  of  the  times  which 
make  no  equivocal  utterance,  but,  like  a voice  from 
heaven,  proclaim  all  things  are  now  ready.  What, 
therefore,  now  remains  but  for  the  Church  to  be- 
come thoroughly  imbued,  permeated  through  and 
through,  with  the  living  light  streaming  from  its 
eternal  Head  ? Then  will  it  thrust  out  its  com- 
missioned sons  glowing  in  the  Redeemer’s  match- 


372 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


less  love — blending  their  ten  thousand  voices  to  be 
wafted  by  the  breezes  of  heaven  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  As  no  mind  can  act  for  the  world's  redemp- 
tion by  power  only  as  it  is  in  communion  wdth  Him 
who  redeemed  the  world  by  price,  this  vital  inter- 
course is  the  stern,  imperative  demand  of  your 
enterprise.  No  agency  out  of  harmony  with  the 
living  spirit  of  the  Gospel  can  ever  render  the 
Gospel  aggressive,  and  nothing  but  its  aggressive- 
ness can  ever  secure  its  universality.  Is  not  the 
fact  most  startling  that  though  this  inertly-aggress- 
ive  Gospel  has  operated  on  the  race  two  thousand 
years,  it  still  leaves  seventy  thousand  every  day  to 
leap  into  a pagan's  eternity;  that  it  has  brought 
only  one  in  twelve  under  its  direct  influence;  that 
only  twenty-two-hundredths  of  man's  vast  family 
are  swayed  by  Protestant  Christianity? 

The  stirring  inquiry,  then,  is  this.  How  shall  the 
Church  remove  this  inoperativeness — how  shall  it 
soonest  diffuse  this  heavenly  leaven  through  the 
whole  lump  of  the  race?  This  can  not  be  done 
by  every  Christian  putting  the  jubilee  trumpet  to 
his  lips  and  blowing  it  through  the  pagan  realms. 
Still  has  every  Christian  a part  to  act  in  this 
evangelizing  process.  He  can  shine  by  the  mild 
and  steady  light  of  a pure  character;  he  can  accel- 
erate the  missionary  movement  by  the  bestowment 
of  his  means;  he  can  act  on  the  most  distant  shore 
of  moral  midnight  through  the  highest  heavens  by 
the  power  of  prayer.  Where  else  is  the  flame  of 


THE  GOSPEL  ONLY. 


373 


true  Christian  philanthropy  kindled  but  at  the  altar 
of  God?  How  else  can  it  be  fed  but  by  the  oil  of 
grace;  or  fanned  but  by  the  eternal  breath? 

I verily  believe  that  the  apathy  of  the  Church 
and  the  hell  of  the  heathen  stand  in  the  order  of 
cause  and  effect,  just  as  do  the  glowing  piety  of 
Zion  and  the  spiritual  rescue  of  the  nations — as  a 
minute  application  of  these  principles  can  only  be 
made  by  a self-application  of  them.  Let  each  re- 
mind himself  that  he  is  a man — that  there  are  a 
thousand  millions  more  like  himself — that  of  all 
this  great  world's  population  there  is  only  one  in 
twelve  like  him  bathed  in  the  sunlight  of  the  Gos- 
pel— that  the  other  eleven-twelfths  are  making 
their  dreary  pilgrimage  amid  the  death-shades  of 
moral  disease.  Does  each  present  exclaim,  Then 
what  can  I do  for  these  imperiled  brothers  of 
mine?  My  warning  voice  can  not  sound  in  their 
hearing,  the  light  of  my  example  can  not  assuage 
their  gloom,  my  utterances  of  prayer  can  not  reach 
their  ears.  Can  I,  then,  exert  no  agency  in 
this  world-saving  work?  The  eyes  and  ears  of  im- 
mortal man  are  not  the  sole  avenues  of  fellow-in- 
fluence. There  is  not  in  all  the  realms  of  nature 
an  object  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  God  as  the  rescue 
of  his  Son's  purchase — all  the  members  of  his 
Church  are  the  appointed  agency. 


, . , . . * 'I*  1 

,'■  ■:  >,  'HifT 


4‘  m - 


W'?:: 

«•  ■ ’ : / 


^ TSi;  ■■•■■• : 


^ ' t.  if  I ,-f 


I .-v,  .yV;! 


- ■ '.^1  , ... 


-:-  ; 0.  , 

' -.'T>.''.“. ..  „ ,. 


r..  ;y  •' 


XXI. 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  AGENCY  THAT  CAN 
ELEVATE  THE  PAGAN  NATIONS: 

A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


If  we  are  right  in  regarding  Christianity  the 
highest  style  of  philanthropy,  the  Christian  should 
seek  with  the  utmost  eagerness  for  the  mightiest 
social  forces  by  which  man  may  be  elevated.  Every 
known  force  in  society  has  been  acting  on  it  for 
ages,  so  that  a comparison  of  their  energy  respect- 
ively is  now  facile. 

Civilization,  with  its  institutions,  has  been  pro- 
posed as  the  master-means  of  man's  elevation.  Civ- 
ilization, whose  characteristics  are  commerce,  litera- 
ture, and  the  arts,  is,  beyond  all  question,  a price- 
less social  boon ; but  it  is  intrinsically  unadapted  to 
man's  highest  elevation — unfitted  to  expand  his  no- 
blest faculties.  It  contains  not  the  principle  of 
self-propagation^  or  the  power  of  inward  assimila- 
tion. There  may  be  a tendency,  in  the  course  of 
ages,  to  perfect  itself  in  its  own  locality,  but  none 
to  transcend  its  original  limits  by  going  abroad  on 

missions  to  perfect  humanity.  History,  it  is  true, 
32  375 


376 


LECTURES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


records  of  civilization  the  planting  of  many  a col- 
ony with  more  elevated  institutions  than  those  of 
contiguous  communities;  but  none  possessed  of  that 
moral  power  which  is  indwelling  and  life-giving. 

What  was  the  aim  of  those  most  ancient  colonies 
established  by  Phoenicia  ? Not  even  to  extend 
civilization,  but  simply  to  protect  and  enlarge  the 
commerce  of  the  parent  State.  For  what  purpose 
did  Greece,  at  a later  period,  send  out  her  vigorous 
colonies  in  the  Asia  Minor,  and  almost  to  the  out- 
limits  of  ancient  civilization  in  Europe  ? Not  to 
permeate  darker  regions  by  its  intenser  light,  but 
for  the  double  purpose  of  self-aggrandizement  and 
to  devolve  from  itself  the  crushing  burden  of  its 
own  poor.  Why  did  the  early  Latins  plant  their 
numerous  colonies?  Not  to  elevate  barbarians  to  a 
higher  social  level,  but  merely  to  establish  for- 
tresses on  their  frontier  for  the  selfish  purpose  of 
protecting  their  own  State. 

The  great  modern  system  of  colonization  has,  ge- 
nerically,  the  same  character — the  extension  of  ter- 
ritory, the  multiplication  of  military  posts,  the  ac- 
quisition of  distant  points  for  the  exportation  of 
their  criminals — these  and  kindred  objects  have 
been  its  paramount  aim.  As  witnesses  to  this  hum- 
bling conclusion  we  might  summon  Algeria,  Aus- 
tralia, Cape  Colonies,  and  many  other  instances. 
Indeed,  we  may  challenge  all  history  for  a single 
colonization  enterprise  having  for  its  aim  man's  ele- 
vation. 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  AGENCY. 


377 


Not  civilization  but  Christianity  alone  has  panted 
and  toiled  for  that  holy  object.  Not  your  colonies 
but  your  missionaries  are  to  transform  the  midnight 
empire  of  heathendom. 

But  I next  advert  to  the  claim  urged  for  com- 
merce. This  has  been  regarded  the  great  civilizer 
of  mankind.  The  maps  of  ancient  history  show  us 
the  identity  of  the  centers  of  civilization  and  the 
seats  of  ancient  commerce.  Such  was  Babylon  on 
the  famous  plain  of  Middle  Asia,  and  Tyre  on  the 
early  civilized  shore  of  the  Mediterranean.  Into 
the  one  the  wealth  of  nations  flowed  in  a deep, 
perpetual  stream ; into  the  other  caravans  brought 
treasures  of  Asia;  ships  conveyed  the  tin  of  Brit- 
ain, the  grain  of  Africa,  and  the  gold  of  Ophir. 
Egypt,  whose  exhaustless  soil  fed  nations  by  her 
cereals,  receiving  in  return  their  various  treasures, 
amazes  by  the  late  exhibition  of  that  long- concealed 
fertility  which  made  her  the  storehouse  of  Europe. 
But  this  intimate  connection  between  commerce  and 
civilization  leaves  unchanged  the  primary  object  of 
both.  History  establishes  our  gloomy  conclusion 
that  never  did  a caravan  go  forth  from  Grreece  or 
Phoenicia,  or  an  ancient  ship  traverse  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  for  the  paramount  purpose  of  elevating 
the  degraded  or  civilizing  the  barbarous.  Indeed, 
most  of  those  early  expeditions  were  characterized 
by  those  piratical  aims  which  were  animated  by  the 
love  of  plunder,  and  were  not  materially  unlike 
those  modern  expeditions  made  by  the  Spanish  and 


378 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDEESSES. 


others  to  the  New  World.  Though  the  preterxsions 
of  some  of  these  were  pompously  religious,  the  con- 
trolling incentives  were  commerce,  gold,  and  con- 
quest. Lust,  treachery,  and  tortures,  which  would 
have  shocked  the  veriest  barbarian,  attended  almost 
every  stage  of  their  inhuman  career. 

Nor  has  mere  social  institutions  the  power  of  as- 
similation to  their  more  exalted  character.  Of  this 
defect  an  illustration  is  furnished  by  their  operation 
in  conquered  India.  What  have  the  civil  institu- 
tions of  England  done  for  the  conquered  millions 
of  Asia  ? It  is  true  that  in  portions  of  that  ancient 
nation  are  the  school,  the  press,  and  the  Bible;  but 
by  what  agency  came  they  there?  Not  by  govern- 
mental institutions,  but  by  Christian  agency — by 
missionaries  often  in  the  very  teeth  of  Government 
agents.  Indeed,  we  need  not  leave  our  own  conti- 
nent to  find  a painful  illustration.  What  has  our 
own  lofty  civilization  done  to  elevate  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants?  It  has  given  them  rum  to  frenzy 
them,  disease  to  waste  them,  and  the  chicanery  of 
civilization  to  enhance  their  treachery.  But  have 
they  not  grants,  stipends,  and  reservations?  Have 
they  not  agricultural  schools  and  the  like?  True; 
but  whence  came  they?  From  Christian  sentiment 
which  extorted  them  from  the  unwilling  hand  of 
Government.  The  assertion  is  fully  authorized  that 
they  are  the  Eliots,  the  Brainerds,  and  the  scores 
of  sanctified  minds  which  have  succeeded  them,  that 
gave  to  the  natives  of  the  soil  whatever  now  enno- 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  AGENCY.  379 

bles  them.  But  is  not  literature  a reliable  means 
of  human  elevation?  That  it  tends  to  extend  civ- 
ilization is  undoubted,  but  that  it  inaugurates  civ- 
ilization is  not  human  experience.  Literature  can 
flourish  in  a nation  only  after  art  has  developed  its 
resources;  anterior  to  both  the  mission  of  the  Gos- 
pel is  requisite. 

Civilization  alone  demands  the  elaboration  of 
centuries.  That  of  Greece,  rising  through  ages, 
culminated  under  Pericles ; that  of  Borne,  after 
the  struggle  of  centuries,  reached  its  acme  under 
Augustus.  But  to  impart  an  immeasurably-higher 
civilization  the  Gospel  demands  but  a single  age. 

The  next  agency  eulogized  as  ^Ghe  great  civilizer 
of  man”  is  commerce.  That  this  is  a grand  me- 
dium of  communicating  to  other  nations  whatever 
may  distinguish  a commercial  nation  is  palpable. 
Greece  gave  this  boon  to  Northern  Africa,  and 
finally  to  victorious  Borne.  Egypt  gave  to  Greece 
its  astronomy,  its  philosophy,  and,  in  part,  its  pa- 
gan religion.  Then,  as  commerce  demands  the 
pressj  and  this  agency  promotes  literature  and  thus 
extends  civilization,  commerce  is  in  this  sense  a 
civilizer.  But  as  it  can  not  give  what  it  has  not 
to  impart — being  without  innate  tendency  to  ele- 
vate man’s  moral  destiny — the  good  it  accomplishes 
is  incidental,  not  primary. 

The  very  reverse  is  true  of  the  Gospel;  it  there- 
fore challenges  all  history  for  a competitor.  Into 
what  barbarous  clime  has  modern  literature  entered 


380 


LECTUEES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


to  dispense  its  treasures  ? It  has  gone  abroad  to 
acquire,  not  to  dispense ; it  has  explored  the  an- 
cient ruins  of  Athens,  Egypt,  Italy,  to  rifle  them 
of  their  monuments  of  ancient  culture,  but  never  to 
impart  nobler  monuments  of  modern  culture.  No; 
it  IS  not  commerce,  literature,  or  diplomacy  that  civ- 
ilizes the  rude  and  Christianizes  the  barbarian.  It 
is  the  missionary,  with  the  Book  of  God  in  his  hand, 
the  love  of  Christ  in  his  heart,  and  with  the  apos- 
tolic mission  glowing  on  his  lips,  that  achieves  for 
man  this  moral  elevation.  It  is  true  that  the  modern 
commerce,  unlike  the  ancient,  does  not  restrict  its 
advantages  to  the  metropolis,  but  extends  them 
through  provinces  and  States ; still  this  modification 
leaves  unmitigated  its  innate  selfishness.  This  is 
referable  to  the  force  of  circumstances,  not  to  the 
change  of  its  nature.  Of  all  these  agents,  there- 
fore, the  Christian  alone  has  had  for  its  primary 
aim  the  elevation  of  man  by  opening  to  him  an  ave- 
nue to  the  knowledge  of  God.  Where  is  there  a 
desert  so  wild  over  which  man  roams,  in  which  the 
missionary  has  not  constructed  the  alphabet,  the 
grammar,  the  lexicon  of  unwritten  savage  dialects 
to  smooth  the  path  of  pagan  approach  to  Christ? 
This  was  the  only  agency  that  first  gave  the  Chris- 
tian press  to  India,  and  instituted  schools  for  mill- 
ions of  her  wild  sons.  Who  can  ever  forget  the 
names  of  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,  who  first 
gave  the  Bible  to  the  Hindoos,  and  who  inaugu- 
rated in  that  dark  empire  schools,  colleges,  and 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  AGENCY. 


381 


cliurclies?  Was  it  not  the  same  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity that  gave  the  Book  of  God  and  a Chinese- 
English  lexicon  of  it  to  the  hundreds  of  millions  of 
the  Celestial  Empire,  radiating  that  mighty  mass 
of  dark  humanity? 

Look  to  the  Pacific  Islands,  where  the  most  re- 
volting atrocities  had  obtained  for  ages,  where  can- 
nibalism had  threatened  to  desolate  whole  islands — 
there  the  same  Divine  agency  wrought  a wondrous 
change.  A third  of  a century  since  a Christian 
youth  leaped  on  the  shore  of  the  Henry  Islands, 
amid  thousands  of  man-eaters,  with  merely  his 
Bible  in  his  hand.  Now  these  islands  ring  with 
Christian  praises,  and  annually  greet  with  rapture 
thousands  of  Bibles,  and  remit  as  often  two  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  institution  that  sends  them. 
This  young  missionary  wrote  in  sand,  on  a board, 
the  two  words  God  and  Christ.  This  was  the  first 
writing  ever  seen  by  these  islanders.  They  now 
grasp  its  far-reaching  import,  and  are  living 
proof  that  civilization  is  the  legitimate  and  imme- 
diate offspring  of  Christianization.  To  suppose, 
therefore,  that  civilization  or  any  of  its  agencies 
goes  forth  on  the  mission  of  philanthropy  to  elevate 
the  degraded,  is  inverting  the  order  of  cause  and 
effect.  That  great  work,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  agencies  as  primary,  belongs  to  God  s Spirit 
working  through  the  utterances  of  his  commissioned 
servants. 

In  view,  then,  of  what  man  is  in  his  mental  and 


382 


LECTURES  ANI)  ADDRESSES. 


moral  and  social  constitution— in  view  of  his  origin, 
his  apostasy,  his  redemption — in  View  of  the  huge 
usurpation  of  inordinate  affection  over  the  nobler 
faculties  of  our  nature,  what  agency  but  the  great 
redemption  can  be  efficient?  What  means  but  the 
everlasting  Grospel  can  propagate  it?  We  have 
seen  that  commerce  has  put  in  its  disclaimer;  sci- 
ence has  said,  it  is  not  in  me;  the  arts  are  proved 
insufficient.  All  these  have  been  more  or  less  in 
operation  since  the  beginning  of  man's  history,  and 
no  one  of  them  has  successfully  grappled  with  the 
giant  man  of  sin.  Still,  a fearful  majority  of  the 
race  is  in  the  deep  shades  of  the  second  death;  sev- 
enty thousand  every  day  are  still  leaping  into  a pa- 
gan's eternity.  The  only  hope  of  the  race  is  in  the 
everlasting  Grospel.  It  relies  on  the  Spirit  it  has 
planted  in  the  hearts  it  has  won  for  propagation. 
Having  put  these  hearts  into  communication  with 
its  Divine  Author,  his  redeeming  enterprise  be- 
comes theirs.  The  mission  is  aggression;  without 
this  its  universality  is  impossible — ^with  this  it  is 
ultimately  certain. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  the  Gospel  that  less  than 
one-fourth  of  the  redeemed  race  has  been  won  to  its 
Supreme  Author  in  two  thousand  years.  Though 
in  executing  his  great  plans  the  footsteps  of  Jeho- 
vah are  often  not  more  than  one  in  a century,  yet, 
as  he  has  no  ends  to  answer  by  the  continuance  of 
sin,  it  was  his-  pleasure  that  the  Gospel  of  his  Son 
should  relume  the  world  with  the  flood  of  its  light 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  AGENCY. 


383 


ages  since.  The  long  postponement  of  this  certain 
event  is  not  referable  to  the  slowness  of  his  provi- 
dence, but  to  the  apathy  of  the  Church.  Had  the 
living  light  of  the  apostolic  age  never  waned  in 
its  intensity ; had  its  flame  burned  with  equal 
intensity  for  a few  years,  the  Star  of  Bethlehem 
would  have  long  since  beamed  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  race.  Let,  then,  the  present  age  compensate 
for  the  delinquency  of  past  generations;  and  while 
it  thus  reflects  on  priority,  let  its  example  kindle 
the  zeal  of  posterity. 


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';iiU  74 


APPENDIX: 


CONTAINING 


FUNERAL  SERMON  AND  MEMORIAL  SERVICES 


OCCASIONED  BY  THE 


DEATH  OF  REV.  JOHN  DEMPSTER,  D.  D. 


I.  FUNERAL  SERMON. 


n.  MEMORIAL  SERVICES: 

1.  DK.  DEMPSTEK  AS  A MINISTER. 

2.  DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY 

3.  DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT  AND  THINKER. 

4.  DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  AN  INSTRUCTOR. 

5.  DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MAN  OF  PROGRESS. 


FUNERAL  SERMON: 


PREACHED  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  DEATH  OF  REV. 
JOHN  DEMPSTER,  D.  D.,  AT  EVANSTON,  ILL., 
DECEMBER  1,  1863. 


BY  EEV,  THOMAS  M.  EDDY,  D.  D. 


My  covenant  was  with  him  of  life  and  peace  j and  I gave  them 
to  him  for  the  fear  wherewith  he  feared  me,  and  was  afraid  before  my 
name.  The  law  of  truth  was  in  his  mouth,  and  iniquity  was  not 
found  in  his  lips  : he  walked  with  me  in  peace  and  equity,  and  did 
turn  many  away  from  iniquity.  For  the  priest’s  lips  should  keep 
knowledge,  and  they  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth  : for  he  is  the 
messenger  of  the  Lord  of  hosts.”  Malachi  ii,  5-7. 

The  providence  convening  us  hatli  its  own  eloquence, 
the  hour  its  own  lessons  ; the  one  scarcely  needs  an  ora- 
cle nor  the  other  a teacher.  Personally,  I feel  my  place 
should  rather  he  that  of  a mourner  than  of  the  preacher 
of  the  day. 

This  is  no  ordinary  funeral  service.  We  are  to  lay  in 
the  grave,  ‘‘ashes  to  ashes  and  dust  to  dust,”  the  remains 
of  a de^mted  teacher,  a profound  student,  a thorough  in- 
vestigator, a ripe  Christian,  and  an  “ able  minister  of  the 
New  Testament.”  Solemnity  becomes  us,  for  death  is  a 
great  fact  ; and  yet,  with  that  solemnity  should  be  min- 
gled something  of  Christian  joy,  for  another  has  gone 
from  the  conflicts  and  sorrows  of  this  to  the  beatitudes 
and  crowns  of  the  upper  world.  Not  enough  has  Chris- 
tianity been  permitted  to  do  for  us  in  mitigating  the  hor* 

B 


4 


APPENDIX. 


rors  of  death.  Too  much  do  we  yet  symbol  it  by  broken 
columns,  inverted  flames,  and  drooping  boughs — em- 
blems of  mere  reason  rather  than  of  faith,  which  teaches 
us  that,  with  the  Christian,  the  column  has  been  com- 
pleted, the 

Eire  ascending’^ 

has  reached  the  sun,  and  that  ‘‘the  tree  of  life’’  and  the 
“tree  of  knowledge,”  rather  than  willow  sad  with  pend- 
ent bough,  are  emblems  of  him  who  “dies  in  the  Lord.” 
Familiar  as  we  are  with  the  poetry,  we  are  yet  almost  un- 
acquainted with  the  spirit  of  our  own  hymn  : 

“ Weep  not  for  a brother  deceased  ; 

Our  loss  is  his  infinite  gain  ; 

A soul  out  of  prison  released. 

And  freed  from  his  bodily  chain  j 
With  songs  let  us  follow  his  flight. 

And  mount  with  his  spirit  above. 

Escaped  to  the  mansions  of  light. 

And  lodged  in  the  Eden  of  love.’’ 

The  ministry  of  the  Word  is  at  once  the  grandest  and 
most  difficult  work  of  life  : the  grandest,  in  that  it  re- 
lates to  God,  is  based  upon  the  mystery  of  the  incarna- 
tion-— God  manifest  in  the  flesh — relates  to  redemption 
and  retribution  ; the  most  difficult,  from  the  dispropor- 
tion between  the  announcement  and  the  announcer,  the 
treasure  and  its  earthen  casket — difficult  enough  to  call 
from  an  apostle’s  lips  the  cry,  “Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things  ?”  and  yet  so  glorious  in  adjustments  that 
he  also  says,  “I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ.” 

The  portion  of  Scripture  I have  read  is  the  divine  de- 
lineation of  Levi,  not  as  the  sacrificer,  but  as  the  teacher  of 
truth.  As  a “ sacrificer”  the  priest  was  a type,  not  of  the 
preacher,  but  of  the  Coming  One,  who  was  to  be  at  once 
priest,  victim,  and  altar.  The  Christian  preacher  offers 


FUNEEAL  SEEMON. 


5 


no  sacrifice  for  sin,  that  has  been  once  mode,  and  made 
once  for  all.  But  the  Levite  was  also  an  instructor  of  the 
people.  With  much  care  was  he  to  prepare  himself  that 
he  might  ‘Heach  the  children  of  Israel  all  the  statutes 
which  the  Lord  hath  spoken.’’  During  the  long  captivity 
of  Israel  a priest  came  to  Bethel  and  taught  them  how 
they  should  fear  the  Lord.”  It  is  so  strongly  stated  in 
the  text  as  to  need  no  explanation.  He  is  the  Lord’s 
messenger,  his  lips  are  to  keep  knowledge  — religious 
knowledge  ; and  the  people,  because  of  this,  are  rever- 
ently to  ‘^seek  the  law  at  his  mouth.” 

Believing  the  passage  a delineation  of  the  expounder  of 
the  Divine  Will,  we  have 

I.  His  official  character — ‘‘He  is  the  messenger  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts.”  The  pastors,  to  whom  the  Epistles  of 
the  Apocalypse  were  addressed,  were  called  the  angels  of 
the  Churches  ; that  is,  the  sent  ones,  the  messengers  bear- 
ing their  divinely-appointed  message.  The  Master  chooses 
those  who  shall  go  forth  officially  to  speak  in  his  name. 
Our  own  Church  has  maintained  a godly  jealousy  at  this 
point.  She  only  consents  to  examine  for  license  such  as 
“think  they  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach,” 
and  all  seeking  holy  orders  are  met  by  the  searching  in- 
terrogatory, “Do  you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  you  the  office  of  the  min- 
istry in  the  Church  of  Christ,  to  serve  God  for  the  pro- 
moting of  his  glory  and  the  edifying  of  his  people?”  In 
some  form  the  same  question  is  repeated  at  each  step  in 
the  ministry  ; and  so  sacredly  are  her  Biblical  schools 
guarded,  that  none  can  cross  their  threshold  as  students 
till  the  Church  has  declared  that,  in  her  judgment,  they 
have  a Divine  call  to  preach  the  Gospel.  The  Church 
holds  that  this  vocation  is  of  too  great  honor  and  respons- 
ibility to  be  chosen  as  men  may,  without  blame,  choose 


G 


APPENDIX. 


an  ordinary  business  or  profession.  It  may  not  be  en- 
tered because  of  honor  or  emolument,  because  designated 
thereto  by  devoted  Christian  parents,  or  from  ordinary 
desire  to  be  useful  ; there  must  be  the  inward  call,  the 
Divine  moving,  the  holy  anointing  attested  to  the  Church 
by  gifts,  grace,  and  usefulness. 

Having  this  divine  designation,  he  bears  an  august, 
representative  character.  He  represents  the  Supreme. 
He  is  the  messenger ’’  bearing  the  ineffable  Word  which 
the  people  are  to  seek  at  his  lips.  St.  Paul  claims  all 
this  when  he  says,  Now,  then,  we  are  embassadors  for 
Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us  ; we  pray 
you  in  Christ's  stead J'  It  is  not  claimed  that  there  is 
such  a distinction  between  the  man  and  the  messenger, 
that  the  man  may  become  wholly  corrupt  and  yet  lose  no 
whit  of  his  official  authority ; for  such  an  assumption  is 
monstrous.  Rebels  are  not  to  be  chosen  as  embassadors  ; 
and  if  there  be  treason  after  the  embassadorial  commis- 
sion is  issued,  the  crime  is  doubly  hightened.  He  can  not 
remain  in  rebellion  and  retain  his  authority;  but  the  ob- 
ligation it  imposed  he  can  not  shake  off. 

But  for  him  whom  the  Master  designates  his  ‘‘ messen- 
ger,though  he  be  lowly  among  his  brethren,  though 
humble  his  parentage,  yet  has  he  an  official  dignity  of 
great  exaltation.  He  speaks  for  God,  and  his  ‘‘suffi- 
ciency is  of  God.’’  He  may  speak  in  all  lowliness  and 
humility,  yet  the  Master  saith,  “He  that  heareth  you, 
heareth  me  ; he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me.” 

II.  There  is  a grouping  of  ministerial  qualifications  and 
endowments — ''He  feared  God."  This  comprehends  in- 
ward religion,  sincerity  of  worship,  conscientious  regard 
for  the  Divine  law,  and  the  realization  of  Divine  super- 
vision. There  is  no  genius  however  brilliant,  there  is  no 
talent  however  profound  and  comprehensive,  there  is  no 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


learning  however  varied  and  ample,  there  is  no  eloquence 
however  captivating  and  entrancing,  there  is  no  reputa- 
tion however  potential  which  can  atone  for  the  Avant  of 
this  deep  religiousness,  this  internal  grace,  this  home 
piety.  Without  it  can  there  be  a ministry  of  experience, 
the  mightiest  of  human  ministries  ? How  can  “treasures 
he  brought  up  from  an  unstored  heart  ? The  broken  cis- 
tern holds  no  water. 

There  is  an  exterior  life  in  this  ministry,  Heputation 
must  be  kept  unsoiled,  and  yet  the  minister’s  is  as  sensi- 
tive as  the  eyeball.  Only  can  it  be  preserved  when  “the 
law  of  truth  is  in  his  mouth,  and  iniquity  not  in  his  lips.” 
He  may  not  retreat  to  the  cloister,  or  find  immunity  in 
retirement;  for  as  the  Master  was  sent  into  the  world, 
even  so  also  is  his  servant  sent  into  the  world,  into  its 
activities  and  into  its  temptations.  He  must  lend  his 
hand  in  lifting  its  burdens,  and  in  the  battles  which  rage 
about  him  his  sword  must  gleam  among  the  foremost,  and 
should  be  second  to  none  in  keenness  of  edge  or  sureness 
of  temper ; and  as  ever  the  standard-bearer  is  marked  for 
assault,  so  must  he  be.  His  safety  is  that  “he  walk  Avith 
God  in  truth  and  equity.” 

His  lips  should  keep  knowledge  and  this  I take  as 
expressing  the  student-side  of  ministerial  character.  It 
is  Avell  that  there  be  thorough  reliance  upon  Divine  aid, 
and  the  minister  is  assured  that  it  shall  be  given  as  needed y 
but  it  will  never  be  given  to  take  the  place  of  personal 
industry.  He  is  fearfully  nigh  unto  blasphemy  Avho  prays 
for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  aid,  not  his  unavoidable  infirmities, 
but  his  willful  ignorance  ! Rain  and  snow  come  down 
from  heaven,  the  sunshine  sends  its  w^armth,  but  the  field 
of  the  sluggard  is  still  overrun  with  brambles,  and  only 
the  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich. 

KnoAvledge  should  CA^er  be  in  the  lips  of  him  Avho  stands 


8 


APPENDIX. 


np  for  God.  If  ever  a man  should  intermeddle  with  all 
knowledge  it  is  he.  If  he  may,  let  him  he  at  home  in 
the  arcana  of  nature ; let  the  stars  above  bo  so  many 
familiar  faces  looking  lovingly  upon  him  ; let  the  lan- 
guages of  the  past  be  so  many  well-known  voices  speak- 
ing to  him  of  God  in  action  ; let  him  be  at  home  amid  the 
labyrinths  and  recesses  of  the  soul’s  wondrous  life ; but, 
above  all,  let  his  lips  keep  the  knowledge  of  the  Word  of 
God — of  that  Divine  “law  which  is  perfect,  converting 
the  soul.”  All  true  knowledge  comes  at  last  reverently 
to  the  theos  logos.  Prophets  of  old  — those  men  before 
whom  an  unseen  Hand  rolled  up  the  curtain,  hiding  to 
all  other  eyes,  however  eagerly  they  sought  to  see,  the 
mysteries  of  the  coming  future — “inquired  and  searched 
diligently”  into  their  revelations.  Archbishop  Leighton 
says:  “They  studied  to  keep  the  passage  open  for  the 
beams  of  those  Divine  revelations  to  come  in  at,  not  to 
have  their  spirits  clogged  and  stopped  by  earthly  and 
sinful  affections,  ^endeavoring  for  that  calm  and  quiet, 
composed  spirit  in  which  the  voice  of  God’s  Spirit  might 
better  be  heard.”  Even  angels,  amid  the  transcending 
glories  of  the  high  empyrean,  are  students,  and  “desire 
to  look  into”  the  sufferings  of  the  Messiah  and  the  suc- 
ceeding glory. 

Given  all  we  have  claimed,  how  is  he  to  win  a revolted 
world?  With  what  trumpet  shall  he  sound  the  blast  of 
resurrection  in  the  ears  of  men  long  dead  in  sin?  Yet 
even  for  this  is  he  prepared,  though  not  by  might  nor 
human  power — not  by  acuteness  of  argument,  brilliance 
of  rhetoric,  or  winning  song.  He  has  that  which  can 
still  that  revolt — which  can  pour  persuasion  into  the  dull 
ear  of  that  profound  death.  He  is  armed  with  the  cove- 
nant of  mercy  through  the  atonement.  He  goes  with 
the  gospel  of  substitution,  the  “mystery  hid  from  ages 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


9 


and  from  generations/’  by  which  God  can  he  just  and 
the  justifier  of  him  that  helieveth  in  Jesus. 

Of  each  Gospel  minister  who  glories  in  the  Cross  is  it 
said  by  the  Almighty,  ‘‘My  covenant  is  with  him  of  life 
and  peace.”  Of  life! 

Jesus  Christ,  who  stands  between 
Angry  Heaven  and  guilty  men. 

Undertakes  to  buy  our  peace  ; 

Gives  the  covenant  of  grace  ] 

Ratifies  and  makes  it  good ; 

Signs  and  seals  it  with  his  blood. 

Life  his  healing  blood  imparts, 

Sprinkled  in  our  peaceful  hearts. 

Of  peace!  0,  depth  of  mercy!  0,  great  mystery  of 
love  1 There  is  pardon  for  the  guilty,  though  scarlet- 
stained  and  crimson-hued  1 

“Jesus,  our  great  high-priest, 

Has  shed  his  blood  and  died ; 

The  guilty  conscience  needs 
No  sacrifice  beside : 

His  precious  blood  did  once  atone, 

And  now  it  pleads  before  the  throne.’^ 

III.  Here,  too,  are  grouped  the  results  of  such  a min- 
istry— “Many  are  turned  to  righteousness.”  God’s 
messengers  have  various  gifts.  Some  deal  almost  ex- 
clusively with  argument ; others  come  with  the  stern 
thunders  of  law.  Prophets  are  they,  with  the  sackcloth 
upon  them  ; and  if  they  stand  not  on  the  mountain  that 
burned  with  fire,  nor  speak  from  amid  its  blackness,  and 
darkness,  and  tempest,  they  point  to  that  mountain,  and 
with  tones  startling  as  its  own  trumpet  they  cry,  “ See 
that  ye  refuse  not  him  that  speaketh  ; for  if  they  escaped 
not  who  refused  him  that  spoke  on  earth,  how  much 
more  shall  ye  not  escape  if  ye  turn  away  from  him  that 
speaketh  from  heaven  1”  Others  come  with  sympathetic 


10 


APPENDIX. 


tenderness,  ‘‘beseeching  by  the  mercies -of  God.’’  Well, 
each  in  his  own  order;  but  if  each  is  right  with  God, 
and  comes  with  that  “covenant  of  life  and  peace” — 
conies  for  God,  comes  for  Christ,  not  for  self — it  shall 
he  seen,  by  and  by,  if  not  now,  that  “he  has  turned 
many  to  righteousness.”  Such  a work  is  the  highest 
in  dignity,  for  it  brings  the  servant  into  oneness  with 
his  Lord,  who  came  to  seek  and  save  the  lost.  “They 
that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  stars  in 
the  firmament  forever.” 

Many!  No  single  sheaf  contents  the  spiritual  hus- 
bandman ; no  single  rescue  can  satisfy  the  philanthropic 
minister ; no  single  victory  can  satisfy  the  hero  minister. 
The  Captain  of  Salvation  was  made  perfect  through  suf- 
ferings expressly  that  he  might  “bring  many  sons  unto 
glory ;”  and  only  have  his  representatives  a Christly 
triumph  when  many  are  saved  by  their  agency. 

My  brethren,  standing  in  this  draped  pulpit,  and  look- 
ing down  upon  that  immovable  face,  I have  utterly  failed 
in  the  rapid  exposition  of  the  text  if  you  have  not  seen 
presented  the  character  of  our  venerated  father.  It  is  his 
picture,  drawn  by  inspiration  ; or  rather  the  character  it 
embodies  was  one  he  diligently  and  humbly  sought  to 
attain  unto. 

A brief  outline  of  the  life,  labors,  and  character  of  the 
departed  befits  the  occasion.  It  has  been  prepared  hur- 
riedly, amid  official  cares  which  could  not  be  postponed, 
and  without  the  privilege  of  access  to  his  private  papers. 
My  principal  authorities  are  the  Minutes  and  General 
Conference  Journals,  and  the  retentive  memory  of  his 
bereaved  widow. 


Since  the  delivery  of  the  sermon  these  dates  have  been  carefully 
verified. 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


11 


John  Dempster  was  born  in  the  town  of  Florida, 
Montgomery  county,  New  York,  Jan.  2,  1794,  and  died 
at  the  residence  of  George  F.  Foster,  Esq.,  in  the  city  of 
Chicago,  at  eighteen  minutes  past  11  o’clock,  on  the 
night  of  Nov.  28,  1863.  Thirty-five  days  would  have 
completed  his  threescore  and  ten  years. 

In  a providential  manner  he  was  led  to  visit  a camp 
meeting,  where  he  was  brought  to  a knowledge  of  the 
Savior.  He  was  at  that  time  eighteen  years  of  age.  The 
foundation  of  his  mature  power  was  laid  in  an  early  con- 
version ; but  for  that,  would  he  have  built  such  monu- 
ments for  enduring  remembrance  ? It  is  written,  ‘‘Them 
that  honor  me,  I will  honor.” 

The  inward  call  was  sooru  heard.  He  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  and  lo ! in  the  whitening  harvest  the  laborers  were 
few.  Modest  as  he  was,  and  all  untrained  in  the  schools, 
the  Church  discerned  his  gifts  and  graces,  and  “thrust 
him  out.”  In  a few  months  he  was  preaching  under  the 
direction  of  Eev.  Charles  Giles,  P.  E.,  and  a little  later 
was  admitted  into  the  “ Old  Genesee”  Conference.  Then, 
when  Conferences  were  vast,  and  districts  and  circuits 
of  proportionate  size,  the  itinerancy  was  a tremendous 
fact,  and  the  slender  youth  accepted  it  with  all  its  actual- 
ities. During  the  first  two  years  he  frequently  preached 
twenty-one  times  a week,  and  this  additional  to  meeting 
the  classes  ! 

He  was  sent  into  Canada,  but  a brief  experience  proved 
the  climate  to  be  too  rigorous  for  his  constitution.  He 
passed  through  the  grades  of  “the  regular  work,”  avoid- 
ing no  responsibility  or  labor.  Nearly  eight  years  he 
served  as  presiding  elder  on  the  Cayuga  and  Black  Eiver 
districts.  The  large  congregations  gathering  to  the  spe- 
cial services  of  the  quarterly  meetings  of  those  days  called 
out  his  powers.  It  was  the  era  of  controversy,  and  he 


12 


APPENDIX. 


proved  himself  an  able  polemic.  Elderly  people  yet 
speak  with  enthusiasm  of  his  sermons  of  that  day,  espe- 
cially of  some  devoted  to  the  Arian  and  Calvinian  con- 
troversies. His  keen  perception  tracked  error  into  its  se- 
cret hiding-places  ; his  touch,  like  the  spear  of  Ithuriel, 
compelled  it  to  assume  its  own  form,  and  then  to  over- 
power it  was  the  work  of  his  resistless  Bible-logic. 

His  own  estimate  of  the  preacher’s  office  appears  in  an 
address  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  in  which  he  said  : 

‘‘The  sphere  assigned  to  the  pulpit  is  broader  and 
brighter  than  belongs  to  all  other  earthly  agents.  It  is 
the  voice  by  which  the  Church,  that  Divine  organism, 
makes  its  solemn  utterances.  It  is  the  channel  through 
which  that  body  diffuses  its  secret  streams  of  life  among 
men,  like  those  imponderable  agents  which  pervade  the 
firmest  substances  of  nature.  While  the  pulpit  radiates 
all  the  relations  of  earth,  it  is  the  preparation  for  the 
grave  and  the  lesson  of  immortality.  The  might  of  this 
engine  of  power  in  effecting  the  moral  rescue  of  the  race 
could  only  be  appreciated  by  the  calculations  of  eternity* 
Its  ordinary  and  external  workings  are  no  adequate  meas- 
ure of  the  energy  seated  within.  This  mysterious  force 
has  only  at  times  come  forth  with  a majesty  before  which 
great  obstacles  have  sunk  or  fled.” 

With  such  an  ideal  he  could  not  be  either  a loiterer  or 
a superficial  student.  He  sought  to  carry  into  the  pulpit 
that  careful  preparation  which  befits  so  grave  and  weighty 
a work  ; his  words  were  fitly  chosen,  his  lips  kept  knowl- 
edge. He  magnified  the  cross,  and  proclaimed  the  “cov- 
enant of  life  and  peace.” 

The  first  epoch  of  his  ministry  terminated  with  the 
General  Conference  of  1836,  at  which  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  mission  of  Buenos  Ayres.  With  his  fam- 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


13 


ily  he  landed  at  Monte  Video  on  Christmas  day,  1836, 
and  reached  Buenos  Ayres  the  following  Wednesday. 
In  this  mission  he  spent  six  years  of  active,  earnest,  hon- 
est toil.  He  returned  to  the  United  States,  landing  at 
New  York,  July,  1842,  where  he  remained  engaged  in 
pastoral  service  till  1845.  In  May,  1846,  he  visited  En- 
gland as  a delegate  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance ; and 
after  a weary  and  dangerous  voyage  reached  home  in  Oc- 
tober. 

We  are  now  brought  to  the  third  epoch  of  his  ministry, 
and  the  one  by  which  he  will  be  known  in  the  history  of 
the  modern  Church.  When  presiding  elder,  and  assist- 
ing in  stationing  the  preachers,  he  saw  what  he  considered 
an  absolute  and  pressing  necessity  for  making  specific 
provision  for  the  training  of  young  men,  who,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Church,  are  called  of  God  to  the  min- 
istry. To  meet  this  necessity  he  advocated  the  establish- 
ment of  Biblical  schools.  His  views,  though  in  accord- 
ance with  the  example  of  John  Wesley  himself,  met  de- 
termined opposition.  The  Church  was  moving  with  great 
vigor  in  furnishing  appliances  for  education.  The  chain 
of  seminaries,  midway  between  common  school  and  col- 
lege, called  into  existence  by  the  far-seeing  wisdom  of 
Wilbur  Fisk  and  his  co-laborers,  was  being  strengthened, 
while,  in  a few  chosen  centers,  capital  and  effort  were 
concentrating  on  institutions  of  higher  grade. 

The  question  was  asked,  What  necessity  exists  for 
institutions  of  another  grade?’’  Not  a few  of  the  most 
eminent  educators  of  the  Church  spoke  decidedly  against 
‘‘professional  schools.” 

Others  looked  with  jealousy  upon  the  movement-^ — not 
because  opposed  to  a ministry  of  culture,  but  because  they 
feared  it  might  be  a departure  from  the  path  indicated  for 
our  feet  by  the  Head  of  the  Church.  They  feared  the 


14 


APPENDIX. 


substitution  of  a professional  for  the  citizen  ministry,  so 
graciously  honored  of  the  Lord.  The  chief  paper  of  the 
Church,  then  edited  by  Dr.  Bond,  was  vehement  in  oppo- 
sition, made  in  the  well-known  trenchant  style  and  un- 
compromising spirit  of  that  eminent  wudter. 

Dr.  Dempster  conferred  with  Bishop  Hedding  and  others, 
and,  assured  of  their  cooperation,  went  forward,  undeterred 
by  opposition  and  unchilled  by  half-friendship.  The  be- 
ginning was  made  in  Newberry,  Yt.,  in  1845.  In  1847 
the  school  was  removed  to  Concord,  N.  H.,  where,  in  the 
month  of  April,  without  money,  without  endowment, 
without  lands,  without  popular  favor,  but  with  strong 
faith  in  God,  and  confidence  in  the  future  approval  of  the 
Church,  John  Dempster,  Chas.  Adams,  and  Osmon  Cle- 
ander  Baker,  now  an  honored  bishop,  with  solemn  prayer, 
opened  the  Methodist  Biblical  Institute  in  the  house  of 
H.  Grinnell,  Esq.  None  could  question  the  heroism  of 
the  movement,  how  much  soever  they  might  doubt  its 
wisdom  or  possible  success.  On  the  2d  of  October  fol- 
lowing it  removed  into  permanent  buildings.  Seven  years 
were  given  by  Dr.  Dempster  to  that  school  of  the  prophets 
as  professor,  agent,  correspondent,  etc.;  teaching,  travel- 
ing, soliciting  funds,  writing  letters,  answering  questions, 
solving  difficulties.  There  were  hours  of  darkness,  there 
were  impending  calamities,  and  there  were  marvelous  de- 
liverances. One  of  these  may  be  mentioned.  I have 
alluded  to  his  protracted  and  tempestuous  return  voyage 
from  England.  His  letters  were  storm -bound,  and  fol- 
lowed instead  of  preceding  him.  Among  them  was  one 
from  Mr.  Stedman,  son  of  a Baptist  clergyman.  He  had 
resided  in  Buenos  Ayres,  but  had  gone  to  England.  The 
letter  contained  a check  for  one  thousand  dollars,  and 
stated  that  he  had  made  the  disposition  of  that  money 
a subject  of  special  prayer,  and  had  been  directed  to  the 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


15 


Biblical  Institute  at  Concord.  Said  Mrs.  Dempster: 
‘‘We  fell  upon  onr  knees  and  united  in  a joyful  thanks- 
giving to  our  Father  for  his  wonderful  goodness.’’ 

He  felt  that  in  this  work  he  was  called  to  be  a founder 
rather  than  a finisher,  and  his  eye  was  westward.  In  the 
providence  of  God  an  “elect  lady,”  Mrs.  Garrett,  determ- 
ined to  consecrate  her  means  to  this  work  of  preparatory 
ministerial  training,  and  the  founding  of  a second  Biblical 
Institute  in  the  vicinity  of  the  commercial  center  of  the 
young,  vigorous  North-West.  He  saw  the  importance  of 
the  field,  and  heartily  gave  himself  to  it.  On  the  26th 
of  December,  1854,  he  and  Mrs.  Dempster  reached  Evans- 
ton, and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1855,  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute  was  formally  opened.  It  is  matter  of  interest  to 
read  the  report  of  that  day.  It  had  been  long  looked  for. 
The  active  and  eloquent  Flinman  and  the  devoted  John 
Clark,  who  had  anticipated  its  coming,  had  been  gathered 
home.  David  M.  Bradley  was  there,  and  reported  the 
exercises  for  the  Chicago  Democrat.  James  Y.  Watson 
was  there,  sparkling  with  wit  and  humor,  scintillating 
with  poetic  beauties,  and  throwing  off  his  sharp,  electric 
sentences.  Mrs.  Garrett  was  there,  disclaiming  all  credit, 
and  declining  to  receive  any  public  recognition  of  her  be- 
neficence. Yet  of  her  Dr.  Watson  did  say,  when  alluding 
to  the  Institute  : “ It  was  planted  by  the  hand  of  woman. 
The  large  presence  of  woman  here  to-day  is  significant 
of  those  dews  of  woman’s  heart  and  eyes  by  which  it  is 
always  to  be  watered.  The  presence  of  that  eminently 
Christian  lady,  on  whom  such  a deed  confers  such  dis- 
tinction and  notoriety,  from  which  she  would  fain  have 
kept  it  separate  forever,  shall  prevent  me  from  mentioning 
her  name.  This  day  it  is  given  to  history  and  to  the 
hearts  of  posterity.  Better  still,  it  forms  history  in 
heaven.” 


34 


16 


APPENDIX. 


There  also  was  Rev.  Thomas  Williams,  then  recently 
from  London  ; and  there  was  Dr.  Dempster  ! All  these 
have  passed  away.  There  are  honored  men  here  to-day 
who  were  then  present,  whose  names  I may  not  mention. 

In  his  inaugural  address  on  that  occasion  Dr.  Dempster 
took  his  ground  firmly.  He  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  bearing  upon  ministerial 
education.  He  proclaimed  the  wants  pressing  upon  it, 
and  its  duty  in  meeting  them.  I must  he  permitted  to 
give  an  extract : 

‘‘To  the  minister  it  eminently  belongs  to  command  the 
relations  of  the  world  without  and  the  world  within,  that 
he  may  seize  upon  that  bright  array  of  analogies  and 
proofs  so  directly  bearing  upon  his  glorious  theme.  How 
can  he  disclose  that  radiancy  which  nature  and  revela- 
tion reciprocally  shed  upon  each  other,  demonstrating 
the  identity  of  their  Author  ? How  can  he  confront  the 
bold  rejecter  of  all  religion  who  puts  in  the  very  mouth 
of  science  the  vmrds  of  blasphemy  ? Such  dig  in  the 
earth  only  to  find  proof  against  Him  who  laid  its  founda- 
tions. They  tower  into  the  heavens  to  array  its  suns  and 
stars  against  Him  whose  breath  kindled  their  fires.  This 
malignant  skill  can  be  baffled  only  by  a pulpit  of  life 
and  fire. 

“ Should  depth,  acuteness,  and  compass  of  thought 
illuminate  all  other  discussions,  and  be  excluded  from 
the  discussions  of  the  pulpit?  If  this  send  forth  little 
else  than  windy  declamation,  positive  assertion,  and  com- 
monplace ideas,  what  power  on  earth  can  protect  it 
from  scorn  and  neglect  ? How  tauntingly  would  it  be 
asked  whether  the  Gospel  is  the  friend  and  the  quickener 
of  the  human  intellect  ! In  the  discussion  of  all  other 
topics  by  other  professions,  the  manly  strength  is  ex- 
hibited in  the  clearness  of  reasoning,  variety  of  illustra- 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


17 


tion,  richness  of  imagery,  and  felicity  of  diction.  Aiie 
these  — beauty  of  style  and  wealth  of  thought  — out  of 
harmony  with  the  sublime  theme  of  the  pulpit  ?” 

To  this  Institute  he  has  given  his  time  and  devoted  his 
energy.  I need  not  review  its  history.  Its  sons  are  on 
both  sides  of  the  globe ; are  among  the  heathen ; in  city 
pulpits  and  amid  the  hither  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains. They  are  its  epistles! 

Yet  the  venerable  Doctor  was  not  satisfied.  He  desired 
to  see  the  permanent  buildings  erected,  and  then  to  go 
westward  and  plant  a third  institute  where  the  roll  of  the 
Pacific  should  be  the  accompaniment  to  its  morning 
prayer  and  its  Sabbath  hymns.  To  that  work  he  pro- 
posed devoting  a portion  of  his  property,  and  within  a 
few  weeks  he  designed  to  sail ; but  God  called  him!  We 
have  many  men  of  learning,  many  ministers  mighty  in 
word  and  powerful  in  doctrine ; many  whose  logic  is  un- 
answerable, many  whose  piety  is  seraphic,  but  we  had  hut 
one  whose  honor  it  was  to  found  the  Biblical  Schools  of 
our  Church,  and  he  is  not,  for  God  has  taken  him  ! 

-It  is  fitting  ere  closing  the  record  of  his  ministerial  life 
to  refer  to  him  as  we  have  seen  him  in  our  Church  coun- 
cils, where  he  was  ever  patient,  attentive  to  each  duty, 
however  small,  present  at  the  devotions  of  the  morning, 
and  the  doxology  of  the  noonday;  carefully  observant  of 
every  item  of  business.  He  had  a seat  in  the  General 
Conference  in  the  sessions  of  18-8,  1832,  1836,  1840, 
1848,  1856,  1860,  and  had  been,  by  a large  vote,  chosen 
by  the  Rock  River  Conference  as  a delegate  to  that  of 
1864.  In  this  chief  council  of  the  Church  his  voice  had 
much  weight,  and  his  opinions  commanded  great  respect. 
The  General  Minutes  give  the  following  list  of  appoint- 
ments : 

1816,  St.  Lawrence,  Lower  Canada  district;  1817, 


18 


APPENDIX. 


Paris,  Oneida  district ; 1818,  Watertown,  do.;  1819, 
Scipio,  Chenango  district;  1820,  superannuated;  1821, 
Watertown;  1822,  do.;  1823,  Homer;  1824,  Auburn; 
1825,  Eochester;  1826,  do.;  1827,  Cazenovia;  1828,  do.; 
1829-32,  P.  E.  Cayuga  district,  Oneida  Conference; 
1833-5,  Black  Eiver  district;  1836-41,  missionary  to 
Buenos  Ayres;  1842,  Vestry-Street,  New  York  Confer- 
ence; 1843-4,  Mulberry- Street ; 1845,  transferred  to  New 
Hampshire  Conference  and  appointed  to  the  Biblical 
Institute,  first  at  Newbury,  Vt.,  and  afterward  at  Concord, 
N.  H.;  1847,  transferred  to  Black  Eiver;  1855,  trans- 
ferred to  Eock  Eiver  Conference.  Since  then  his  ap- 
pointment has  been  that  of  Professor  in  Grarrett  Biblical 
Institute,  at  Evanston. 

As  a student  his  habits  were  methodical.  Time  with 
him  was  too  precious*  to  be  wasted.  To  the  last  he  arose 
at  four  in  the  morning,  and  till  his  breakfast  hour — six 
o’clock — after  his  private  devotion,  he  read,  studied,  and 
took  his  accustomed  morning  exercise.  After  his  break- 
fast he  was  at  study  till  eight  o’clock,  when  his  recita- 
tions began,  and  till  near  noon  he  was  engaged  in  the 
Institute.  From  half-past  twelve  till  two  o’clock,  P.  M., 
he  read  or  wrote,  then  he  gave  ten  minutes — seldom 
more — to  sleep,  and  resuming  study,  continued  till  six ; 
forty-five  minutes  were  given  to  exercise,  and  then  he 
either  wrote  or  read,  or  listened  to  reading  by  Mrs.  D.  till 
half-past  nine  o’clock,  when  he  retired.  He  made  the 
most  of  time.  He  shunned  no  difficulty.  He  delighted 
in  metaphysical  research,  and  had  made  its  controver- 
sies familiar.  He  grappled  with  gigantic  opposition,  he 
pleaded  no  prescriptive  rights  against  investigation.  He 
was  ever  the  courtly  knight,  with  visor  down,  the  cross 
upon  his  helm,  and  lance  in  rest,  ready  to  meet  all  comers 
who  disputed  his  faith.  Not  disputatiously,  yet  deliber- 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


19 


ately  he  challenged  all  creeds  and  demanded  their  au- 
thority. And  this  spirit  he  inculcated  upon  his  students. 
They  were  expected  to  be  always  ready  to  give  to  every 
man  that  asked  them  a reason,  not  only  for  the  hope  that 
was  in  them,  but  for  the  very  faith  which  is  its  substance. 
Emphatically  he  was  an  investigator . How  far  his  literary 
labor  has  been  completed  is  to  be  seen.  The  Church 
has  been  calling  for  his  treatise  on  the  Will,  and  it  will  be 
a serious  disappointment  if  it  shall  not  see  the  light. 

It  was  seldom  Doctor  Dempster  would  consent  to  ap- 
j)ear  upon  the  platform,  yet  when  he  did  he  always  com- 
manded attention ; and,  while  compelled  to  repress  the 
emotional  in  himself  from  care  to  his  health,  he  stirred  it 
in  others.  Many  to-day  remember  his  addresses  at  the 
farewell  meeting  held  for  Prof.  Goodfellow  before  his 
departure  for  South  America,  the  one  delivered  on  the 
occasion  of  the  departure  of  Pev.  James  Baume,  and  the 
missionary  address  at  the  Conference  Anniversary  in  Free- 
port. We  are  happy  to  state  that  a volume  of  his  ad- 
dresses is  now  coming  through  the  press. 

Few  men  have  had  such  strength  of  will.  It  bore  him  up 
and  on  through  difficulty,  kept  him  calm  in  opposition, 
and  gave  him  much  power  over  men.  So,  too,  that  high 
resolve  to  live  on  till  his  work  was  completed,  kept  him 
alive.  But  for  it,  he  had  long  since  died.  Few  knew 
that  often  when  conducting  difficult  examinations,  or  de- 
livering those  carefully-prepared  lectures,  he  was  suffering 
intensely — but  no  word  or  sign  indicated  it.  His  strong 
control  held  in  the  sensibilities  and  emotions  as  with  bit 
and  curb.  In  duty,  with  him  to  resolve  was  to  execute. 

Dr.  Dempster  u as  a progressive  man.  He  gave  words 
of  cheer  to  every  true  reformer.  He  sat  not  in  sackcloth 
amid  the  ashes  of  the  past.  Not  his  voice  came  with 
sepulchral  utterances  crying  “the  former  days  were  better 


20 


APPENDIX. 


than  these.’’  0 no  ! He  believed  that  onward  through 
the  ages  God  would  go,  and  that  in  spite  of  break  and 
tangle  the  web  of  triumph  should  be  woven.  He  hailed 
each  advance,  not  only  for  itself,  but  as  the  prophecy  of 
still  better  things. 

I should  be  false  to  the  duty  of  the  hour  if  I did  not 
to-day,  standing  by  the  dead  form  of  my  venerable  friend, 
mention  his  devotion  to  the  great  idea  of  human  freedom. 
How  could  it  have  been  otherwise,  for  his  head  was  clear 
and  his  heart  was  warm  ! He  had  studied  the  questions 
of  freedom  and  slavery  in  their  various  bearings,  and 
none  could  more  highly  appreciate  the  one  or  detest  the 
other.  In  the  councils  of  his  Church  he  was  of  the  num- 
ber who  steadily  worked  and  hoped  for  the  removal  of  the 
vicious  interpretation  which  had  been  forced  upon  the 
early  antislavery  utterance  of  Methodism.  I remember 
seeing  him  in  1856  in  the  old  State-House  of  Indiana  as 
he  arose  in  the  General  Conference  to  address  that  body. 
He  had  been  seriously  ill,  and  had  come  from  his  sick- 
room. His  appearance  was  more  deathlike  than  usual. 
He  began,  as  was  his  wont,  deliberately,  but  as  he  pro- 
ceeded, his  friends  in  opposition  started — they  saw  a mas- 
ter of  logic,  who  was  deliberately  destroying  their  labor 
of  many  days.  That  speech  was  not  answered  then^  nor 
has  it  ever  been. 

In  1860  it  was  my  lot  to  participate  with  him  in  the 
sti  uggle  when  victory  come.  The  conflict  waxed  hot,  but 
he  remained  calmly  confident  and  soberly  exultant.  One 
of  his  more  recent  public  acts  was  to  go  with  Kev.  Dr. 
Patton  to  Washington,  bearing  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  the  petition  of  the  people  of  Chicago  that 
he,  as  Commander- in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  would 
issue  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  declaring  the 
slaves  of  rebels  free  men  ! He  stood  with  his  colleague 


FUNEEAL  SEEMON. 


21 


in  that  presence  and  presented  that  petition.  When  the 
Proclamation  came  he  rejoiced  earnestly  and  with  thanks- 
giving to  God."^ 

At  our  last  Conference  he  entered  heartily  into  the  en- 
thusiasm with  which  the  Report  on  the  State  of  the  Coun- 
try was  adopted,  declaring  that  its  sentiments  of  freedom 
should  ‘'glow  in  every  sunbeam.’’ 

Would  that  he  could  have  lived  till  this  “cruel  war  is 
over,”  to  see  what  he  believed  would  come,  must  come, 
the  complete  and  inevitable  overthrow  of  the  entire  slave 
system ! 

To  this  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  he  was  a fervent 


After  mentioning  his  participation  in  bearing  to  Mr.  Lincoln  the 
petition  that  he  would  issue  an  edict  of  emancipation,  the  following 
note  was  read  from  Dr.  Patton: 

“Chicago,  Dec.  1, 1863. 

Eev.  Dr.  Eddy — Mif  Dear  Bro.y — Yesterday  the  papers  announced 
the  departure  to  his  rest  and  reward  of  our  venerated  father  in  the 
ministry,  Rev.  Dr.  Dempster,  and  to-day  we  are  to  commit  his  earthly 
remains  to  the  tomb.  I can  not  allow  the  occasion  to  pass  without 
expressing  to  you  the  sympathy  I feel  with  his  family,  my  brethren 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  whole  Israel  of  God,  in 
this  affliction  ] for  truly  he  belonged  to  us  all,  as  a Christian,  as  a 
minister,  as  a theological  instructor,  and  as  an  active  friend  of  suffer- 
ing humanity.  No  words  can  tell  how  deeply  my  feelings  were 
touched  by  the  token  of  personal  and  Christian  friendship  conveyed 
in  the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Dempster  to  me  to  conduct  the  funeral  serv- 
ices at  the  house.  But  the  fact  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  inti- 
macy which  grew  up  between  Dr.  Dempster  and  myself  on  our  mission 
to  Washington,  in  September,  1862,  to  urge  the  President  to  issue  a 
proclamation  of  emancipation.  Many  hours  of  confidential  inter- 
course by  day  and  night,  and  many  precious  seasons  of  prayer  for 
that  and  other  objects,  drew  us  together  with  cords  of  Christian  affec- 
tion which  have  been  strengthening  ever  since.  Seldom-  has  it  been 
my  privilege  to  know  a man  of  purer  life  and  more  single  aim,  or  to 
meet  a minister  of  more  comprehensive  views  or  enlarged  sympathies. 
May  his  mantle  fall  on  some  of  his  surviving  brethren  I 

“Yours  fraternally,  W W.  Patton.” 


22 


APPENDIX. 


patriot ! His  love  of  country  was  intense  and  his  hatred 
of  the  rebellion  as  intense.  During  his  fatal  illness  he 
listened  with  great  eagerness  to  the  reading  of  the  news 
announcing  the  recent  brilliant  victory  of  General  Grant. 

It  now  becomes  us  to  enter  the  holy  place  of  private 
life.  He  was  a husband  and  father.  Four  children  sur- 
vive, and  she  who  nearly  forty  years  ago  became  his  wife 
remains  to  tell  how  strong  was  the  love  that  hound  them  ; 
how  happy  were  their  relations.  Home  was  'enlivened 
often  by  his  witty  and  genial  remarks  and  reminiscences. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  courteous  gentlemen  I ever 
knew.  It  was  Sir  Charles  Grandison  under  grace.  This 
came  out  in  his  last  illness.  His  bow  was  made  from  his 
death-pillow  to  all  who  entered  his  room  or  approached 
his  bedside.  When,  on  the  last  night  of  his  illness,  his 
old  friend,  Hon.  Judge  Goodrich,  called  upon  him,  he 
could  speak  hut  a few  words,  yet  summoned  strength  to 
ask  in  his  usual  way  after  his  health.  When  the  Judge 
was  about  to  retire  he  came  to  the  bedside,  and  said,  with 
emotion  he  could  scarcely  control,  Good-by,  God  bless 
you.  Dr.  Dempster. The  already-dying  man  bowed  and 
replied,  ‘‘Thank  you — thank  you.’’  That  courtesy  was 
in  all  things — in  the  recitation- room,  in  the  social  circle, 
and  amid  the  collisions  of  controversy. 

The  more  sacred  subject  of  his  Christian  experience 
must  not  be  overlooked.  Though  there  may  he  all  gifts 
and  all  knowledge,  though  there  be  the  understanding  of 
all  mysteries,  without  the  work  of  grace  and  the  gift  of 
love,  all  is  vain. 

I have  stated  his  early  conversion.  God  be  praised  that 
he  did  not  have  to  lay  the  foundations  when  the  beating 
of  the  final  storm  came  on ! 0,  no  1 He  remembered  his 

Creator  in  the  days  of  his  youth  before  the  evil  days  came, 
before  the  loosening  of  the  silver  cord,  or  the  breaking  of 


I 


FUNERAL  SERMON.  23 

the  golden  bowl.  His  was  a deep,  rich  experience  full  of 
grace  and  full  of  glory.  Not  often  did  he  speak  of  him- 
self, but  his  religious  status  appeared  in  those  prayers  so 
full  of  unction,  so  full  of  humble  yet  holy  boldness,  so 
full  of  promise-claiming.  It  came  out  in  the  simple  yet 
glorious  relations  of  the  class-room. 

Many  will  remember  the  last  Conference  love-feast  con- 
ducted by  him  in  Rockford,  Sept.  27th.  He  said  that  he 
was  going  to  be  short,  and  that  he  hoped  every  other 
brother  would  follow  copy.  His  conversion  was  stated 
in  five  sentences — it  was  at  a camp  meeting:  ‘‘A  long 
night  of  struggle  was  my  lot — a night  whose  darkness 
bordered  the  world  of  despair ; but  on  the  rise  of  the  nat- 
ural sun,  a new  sun  arose — the  sun  of  eternity.  The 
clouds,  the  trees,  the  leaves,  the  very  stems  of  the  trees 
were  vocal  with  music,  and  I joined  the  great  concert. 
My  purpose  in  half  a century  has  not  changed.  You  all  see, 
brethren,  that  in  the  case  of  John  Dempster  the  evening 
shades-  are  lengthening.  The  day  is  far  spent,  the  night 
is  at  hand,  but  the  path  is  bright  beneath  my  feet,  and 
bright  beyond.  I look  for  the  crown  of  immortality.” 
Such  was  his  recently-embodied  statement  of  his  expe- 
rience ; I can  add  nothing  to  it.  It  is  itself  a psalm 
of  life. 

In  the  remnant  of  time  I may  occupy  I must  speak  of 
the  close  of  life.  Some  of  us  had  marked  with  much  con- 
cern indications  for  some  months  that  not  even  Di*. 
Dempster’s  will  could  hold  up  his  strength  to  the  old 
mark.  He  was  much  worn  at  the  close  of  the  Institute 
year,  and  communicated  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  his  con- 
viction of  the  necessity  of  a sea  voyage,  and  informed 
them  that  if  he  could  obtain  leave  of  absence,  he  would 
sail  for  San  Francisco  about  January  first.  The  Board 
concurred  in  judgment  as  to  the  importance  of  the  voyage. 


24 


APPENDIX. 


but  urgently  advised  bim  to  anticipate  the  date  of  sailing. 
A tumor  of  long  standing  had  become  so  distressing  that 
its  removal  by  the  knife  was,  in  his  judgment,  necessary 
before  undertaking  the  voyage.  He  accordingly  Went  to 
Chicago  with  Mrs.  Dempster  on  the  morning  of  last 
Wednesday — 25th  November — and  was  domiciled  in  the 
home  of  Geo.  F.  Foster,  where  he  received  every  attention 
Christian  kindness  could  render.  The  operation  was  per- 
formed, and  it  was  hoped  all  would  go  well ; but  it  was 
written  otherwise.  From  the  prostration  he  never  re- 
covered sufficiently  to  converse  with  any  freedom — articu- 
lation was  difficult.  Thursday  night  was  perhaps  a time 
of  the  severest  physical  suffering,  and  yet,  says  Rev.  Mr. 
Stoughton,  who  was  with  him,  ‘‘no  word  or  sign  of  fret- 
fulness or  murmuring  escaped  him,  but  he  had  a courteous 
nod  and  smile  for  the  slightest  attention.’’ 

Saturday,  P.  M.,  I saw  him  for  the  first  time,  and  then 
thought  his  recovery  impossible.  It  had  been  the  ar- 
rangement that  I should  return  Sabbath  morning  and 
spend  the  day  with  him,  but,  from  the  manifest  symptoms 
of  coming  dissolution,  I decided  to  return  that  night,  and 
so  promised  the  venerable  sufferer.  On  leaving  him  I 
offered  an  invocation  for  the  Divine  blessing  upon  him, 
to  which  he  responded,  audibly,  ‘‘Amen.” 

Do  you  ask  for  the  closing  scene?  Wherefore?  If 
word  were  brought  us  of  the  death,  in  battle  or  otherwise, 
of  General  Grant,  who  would  ask  for  his  dying  words  as 
proof  that  he  loved  his  country  ? That  has  been  an- 
swered by  Donelson,  by  Shiloh,  by  Vicksburg,  and 
echoed  from  the  lofty  brow  of  Lookout  Mountain  ! Here 
is  a veteran  who  has  borne  without  fear  and  without 
reproach  the  banner  of  the  Cross  more  than  fifty  years  ! 
His  record  speaks  for  him.  And  yet  the  words  of  the 
dying  patriot  are  caiiglit  up,  echoed,  and  re-echoed — they 


FUNERAL  SERMON. 


25 


are  not  needed  for  his  vindication,  but  they  are  our  in- 
spiration. 

I have  said  he  could  scarcely  speak,  yet  in  the  evening, 
as  I entered  his  room,  I heard  him  mention  my  name — 
he  was  asking  for  me.  I came  to  his  side ; he  fixed  his 
eye  upon  me,  and  made  several  efforts  to  communicate 
something,  but  could  not. 

His  physician  was  there,  and  we  stepped  into  an  ante- 
room and  he  told  me,  tearfully,  that  the  case  must  be 
fatal,  and  authorized  me  to  communicate  the  fact  to  the 
venerable  sufferer,  adding,  ‘‘It  can  do  him  no  harm.*’ 

His  mind  was  still  regnant.  The  intellect  was  clear. 
I came  to  his  bedside,  and  holding  his  hand  said,  “Dr. 
Dempster,  I must  make  a communication  which  I am 
sure  you  will  receive  without  agitation.”  He  bowed, 
fixing  his  eyes  calmly  upon  me.  “Your  physician  says 
he  can  do  no  more,  and  contrary  to  all  our  hopes,  your 
disease  must  terminate  fatally,  and  that  in  a short  time.” 
No  change  passed  over  his  face — he  looked  steadily  into 
mine,  and  when  I ceased  he  bowed.  He  understood  it, 
and  was  ready. 

After  a pause  of  a few  moments  I said  to  him,  “Doctor, 
we  need  no  witness  to  give  us  assurance,  yet  we  will  be 
glad  to  know  if  the  Eock  is  beneath  your  feet?”  He 
responded  by  an  affirmative  sign,  made  more  expressive 
by  the  smile  upon  his  features. 

“Shall  we  say  to  your  children.  Doctor,  that  all  is 
bright  before  you?”  He  responded,  audibly,  “Yes,”  and 
bowed.  A little  later,  when  I asked  him,  “Dr.  Dempster, 
shall  I say  to  your  students  that  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment you  taught  them  you  find  all  sufficient  now?”  His 
response,  though  made  by  signs,  was  emphatic.  We 
kneeled  in  prayer,  and  at  the  close  of  the  petitions  he  re- 
sponded, “Amen.” 


26 


APPENDIX, 


For  an  hour  or  more  he  seemed  to  suffer  severely,  but 
-still  no  sign  of  fretfiilness.  His  eyes  rested  frequently, 
and  O how  expressively,  and  I thought  pityingly,  upon 
Mrs.  D.  We  prayed  again  that  his  sufferings  might  be 
alleviated,  and  his  homeward  passage  smoothed,  and  so 
it  was. 

There  was  some  time  during  which  he  sank  gradually, 
yet  painlessly  and  gently.  His  eyes  indicated  intelligence 
of  what  was  transpiring  around  him  till  within  a few 
minutes  of  his  death,  when  the  gleam  left  them  ! At 
eighteen  minutes  past  eleven  the  head  which  rested  upon 
my  breast  was  that  of  a lifeless  man  ! We  were  with  our 
dead ! We  had  solemnly  committed  his  parting  spirit  to 
his  Redeemer ! 

So  passed  John  Dempster,  the  eloquent  preacher,  the 
missionary  laborer,  the  champion  of  reform,  the  mature 
Christian,  the  devoted  husband,  the  faithful  father,  the 
constant  friend.  He  is  gone ! It  seems  to  me  as  a 
dream ! 

" Thus  did  he  pass  away,  yielding  his  soul 
A joyous  thank-offering  to  him  who  gave 
That  soul  to  be !” 

We  are  to  bear  him  to  the  grave — to  the  spot  he  has 
chosen ; but  he  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ! 
It  was  an  essential  >of  his  faith.  It  is  touching  to  think 
that  he  chose  a burial-place  within  hearing  of  his  loved 
Biblical  Institute ! 

He  will  be  missed  in  the  meetings  of  the  Faculty  and 
the  recitation  rooms  ! May  the  God  of  providence  who 
has  so  bountifully  blessed  the  -Institute,  direct  in  the 
selection  of  him  who  shall  take  the  place  of  the  de- 
parted ! 

He  will  be  missed  at  home  ! May  the  blessing  of  the 
God  of  tenderness  be  with  her,  who  for  nearly  forty  years 


FUNEKAL  SEEMON.  27 

hath  been  by  his  side  ! In  her  loneliness  may  she  be 
comforted  ! 

May  those  children — the  daughter  even  now  hurrying 
hither — the  daughter  and  the  son  upon  the  Pacific,  and 
she,  Avho  afar  is  the  light  in  that  missionary  home,  be  led 
by  the  God  of  their  father,  and  fully  trust  in  that  same 
doctrine  which  made  all  light  to  him  ! 

Students  of  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  I have  in- 
cluded in  my  remarks  his  testimony  left  for  you.  You 
know  what  he  thought  of  that  atonement,  of  its  suffi- 
ciency, of  its  preciousness,  of  its  merit.  Dying,  when  all 
else  was  dropping  from  beneath  him,  this  was  there — 

" A Eock  that  could  not  move.” 

0,  my  youthful  brethren,  is  there  any  thing  to  take  its 
place  as  the  ground  of  your  trust,  or  the  theme  of  your 
preaching ! God  forbid ! Remember  the  words  that  he 
spoke  while  he  was  yet  present  with  you ! 

My  brethren  in  the  ministry  of  the  Word,  our  senior 
is  gone ! Our  Elijah  has  ascended  in  his  chariot  of  flame  1 
The  bow  of  our  Ulysses  we  may  not  bend,  yet  shall  not 
the  life  of  our  friend,  our  brother,  our  father  in  the  Gospel, 
minister  to  us  instruction  ? Shall  not  his  life,  which  was 
the  fullness  of  labor,  be  our  admonition  ? New  responsi- 
bilities press  upon  us  with  the  ascension  of  our  seniors. 
God  give  us  grace!  It  is  a glorious,  a blessed  thing  to 
preach  the  everlasting  Gospel  1 0 that,  fired  by  zeal 

from  the  altar  on  high,  and  warned  by  this  sudden  de- 
parture, we  may  move  to  this  great  work  with  more  of 
Christly  love  and  greater  efficiency  than  ever  before! 

Leaving  the  chamber  of  death  that  night  and  hurrying 
homeward,  nearing  Randolph-street  I heard  the  strains  of 
martial  music,  and  then  loud  hurrahs  and  shoutings ! 
Coming  near  I saw  a multitude  almost  wild  with  excite- 


28 


APPENDIX. 


ment,  and  in  tliat  multitude  were  visible  contending 
emotions.  It  environed  a broken  regiment  of  men  who, 
with  uniforms  weather-stained,  and  faces  bronzed,  had 
returned  from  fields  of  blood  ! That  tattered  flag  was 
tattered  because  its  folds  had  trembled  in  the  storm  of 
battle,  and  been  torn  by  hurling  balls.  Kough  were  those 
men — unshaved,  unshorn,  and  most  unpolished  in  out- 
ward seeming.  But  they  were  heroes  ! They  had  rode 
in  the  thundering  charge  against  blazing  batteries  and 
walls  of  steel ! They  were  heroes,  and  were  returning  with 
honorable  scars  ! Therefore  that  greeting  of  shout,  and 
song,  and  wild  hurrah  ! They  were  friends,  w^ho  came 
back  for  a season  to  homes  that  had  missed  them,  and 
hearts  that  had  yearned  for  them  ! Therefore  there  were 
tearful  greetings ! Yon  army  confronting  the  foe  said, 
“A  regiment  has  gone!'*  Here  they  said,  “A  regiment 
has  come  home  1" 

I could  but  think  what  a triumph  has  been  won  by  our 
veteran  brother  1 He  has  been  in  the  front  of  the  conflict 
for  half  a century.  About  him  has  been  the  bursting  of 
the  storm,  but  bravely  he  went  forward.  He  has  fought 
his  last  battle — he  has  conquered  his  last  foe — he  has  re- 
ceived his  discharge!  We  say  our  friend  is  gone;  in 
heaven  they  say  he  has  come! 

The  spirit,  freed, 

Hastens  homeward  to  return: 

Mortals  cry — a man  is  dead ! 

Angels  sing — a child  is  born  I’* 

And  I could  not  forbear  to  repeat  mentally,  as  standing 
in  that  clear,  cold  moonlight  and  thinking  of  the  greet- 
ing of  our  venerable  leader  above,  that  stanza  of  Wesley : 

Born  into  the  world  above. 

They  our  happy  brother  greet; 


FUNEEAL  SERMON. 


29 


Bear  him  to  the  throne  of  love — 

Place  him  at  the  Savior’s  feet. 

Jesus  smiles  and  says,  Well  done, 

Good  and  faithful  servant  thou  I 
Enter  and  receive  thy  crown — 

Reign  with  me  triumphant  now!’ 

And  methoiiglit  I could  see  the  greeting  of  Redding,  and 
Clark,  and  Hinman,  and  Watson,  and  a host  of  fellow- 
soldiers,  as  the  spirit  of  their  fellow-hero  was  welcomed 
by  the  shouts  of  angels  ! 

And  was  it  all  a dream  ? Goes  not  the  spiritual  hero 
to  a grander  welcome  than  can  await  the  conqueror  on 
earthly  battle-fields  ? 0,  it  must  be  so  ; for  he  that  over- 

cometh  goes  to  sit  with  the  Master  on  his  throne,  as  the 
Master  overcame  and  sits  with  the  Father  on  his  throne ! 

‘‘And  now,  unto  Him  that  ascended  up  far  above  all 
heavens,  that  he  might  fill  all  things,  and  gave  some 
apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and 
teachers ; for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ: 
to  the  only  wise  God,  our  Savior,  be  glory,  and  maj- 
esty, and  dominion,  and  power,  both  now  and  forever! 
Amen.’* 


30 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE. 

At  the  close  of  the  funeral  sermon  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder,  D.  D., 
read  the  following  memorial  papers : 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  PREACHERS’  MEETING  OF  CHICAGO. 

Whereas^  in  the  providence  of  Almighty  God,  the  Rev.  John 
Dempster,  D.  D.,  has  been  removed  from  our  midst  by  death, 
we  bow  in  deep  submission  and  reverence  to  the  will  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  in  this  the  great  bereavement  of  ourselves  and 
the  Church,  with  which  he  has  been  so  eminently  identified. 

1.  Resolved^  That  in  the  death  of  our  late  and  distinguished 
father  we  recognize  the  loss  to  the  Church  of  an  accomplished 
gentleman,  a devout  Christian,  and  able,  eloquent,  and  efficient 
minister,  who  for  over  half  a century  has  adorned  her  pulpit. 

2.  Resolved^  That  we  have  recognized  in  the  deceased  a pre- 
eminent thinker,  who,  as  a metaphysician,  has  long  ranked 
among  the  very  first  scholars  and  philosophers  of  his  time. 

3.  Resolved^  That  we  appreciate  his  invaluable  services  as  the 
founder,  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  of  the  first  Biblical  In- 
stitute under  the  patronags  of  our  denomination,  and  in  his 
intimate  relations  with  the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  with  which 
he  has  been  connected  from  its  establishment. 

4.  Resolved^  That  as  an  instructor  in  these  schools  of  the 
prophets  he  was  in  his  department  without  a superior. 

5.  Resolved^  That  we  condole  with  his  widow  and  children  in 
their  sad  bereavement. 

6.  Resolved^  That  we  recommend  a memorial  meeting  to  be 
held  at  the  Clark-Street  Church,  Chicago,  on  Sabbath  evening, 
December  1 3th. 

7.  Resolved^  That  we  gratefully  acknowledge  the  solicitous 
and  kind  attentions  of  brother  George  F.  Foster  and  family 
during  the  illness  of  our  departed  brother. 

H.  Bannister,  Chairman  Com, 


R.  L.  Collier,  Secy. 


MEMOEIAL  PAPERS. 


31 


MEMORANDUM  OF  THE  ALUMNI  OF  THE  GARRETT  BIB- 
LICAL INSTITUTE. 


It  is  our  conviction  that  the  side  of  our  lamented  instructor’s 
character  which  revealed  his  peculiar  power  is  known  best  bj 
the  classes  he  loved  and  that  loved  him. 

His  great  strength  made  him  more  than  a match  for  the  diffi- 
culties that  confront  the  student.  Where  the  inspiration  of  his 
example  could  not  allure,  the  ineffitable  conclusions  of  his  logic 
forced  the  student.  Thus  all  were  compelled  to  think.  This 
made  Dr.  Dempster  an  instructor  unsurpassed  in  developing 
the  pupil. 

His  great  intellect  was  permeated  and  clothed  with  a spirit- 
uality that  distinguished  his  devoted  life. 

While  his  will  battled  successfully  with  the  temptations  of  life, 
his  faith  appropriated  the  promises  of  the  Savior. 

He  excelled  as  a teacher  in  the  wonderful  inspiration  of  his 
life-work.  No  real  student  ever  sat  a year  under  his  instructions 
without  getting  clear  radical  views  of  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Christianity;  a calm  reverence  for  the  living,  working  organ- 
ism of  the  Church  he  represented;  a solemn  awe  for  the  dignity 
and  responsibility  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  and  an  abiding  purpose 
to  acquire  a wide  scholarship  with  which  to  meet  that  responsi- 
bility and  adorn  that  ministry. 


C.  H.  Fowler, 
Rob’t  Bextley, 


Committee, 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  TRUSTEES  AND  FACULTY  OF  THE 
GARRETT  BIBLICAL  INSTITUTE  IN  JOINT  SESSION, 
CHICAGO,  NOVEMBER  30,  1863. 

Whereas.,  since  the  present  meeting  was  appointed,  our  vener- 
able senior  professor  and  colleague,  the  Rev.  John  Dempster, 
D.  D.,  has  been  summoned  away  by  death,  we  feel  called  upon  to 
express  our  devout  humiliation  under  this  mournful  dispensation 
of  Providence,  and  other  sentiments  befitting  the  occasion. 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  shall  ever  regard  it  as  a peculiar  privilege 
to  have  been  associated  long  and  intimately  with  this  eminent 
servant  of  Christ  in  the  noble  work  of  ministerial  education. 


32 


APPENDIX. 


2.  Resolved^  That  we  shall  cherish  with  fond  and  sacred  recol- 
lections his  pure  life,  his  zealous  and  efficient  labors,  his  unfalter- 
ing energy,  and  his  bright  Christian  and  ministerial  example,  as 
precious  elements  of  the  history  of  the  institution  with  which  we 
are  connected. 

3.  Resolved^  That,  in  commemoration  of  his  honored  name, 
we  propose  to  call  the  first  permanent  building  to  be  erected  for 
the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  Dempster  Hall,  and  that  we  invite 
the  cooperation  of  his  friends  and  admirers  throughout  the  Church 
to  aid  us  in  making  the  proposed  structure  a fitting  monument 
to  his  memory. 

4.  Resolved^  That  we  unite  in  sentiments  of  sincere  condolence 
with  his  surviving  widow  and  children,  on  account  of  their  great 
and  irreparable  loss. 


MEMORIAL  SERVICES: 


HELD  IN  THE  CLARK-STREET  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH,  CHICAGO,  ILL.,  SABBATH  EVENING, 
DECEMBER  13,  1863. 


This  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest,  indicating  tlie  high 
regard  in  which  the  deceased  was  held,  and  the  deep  appreciation 
of  the  loss  sustained  in  his  death. 

The  Rev.  E.  M.  Boring  was  chairman  of  the  meeting.  The 
hymns  were  read  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Stoughton,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Eddy 
led  in  prayer.  After  the  introductory  exercises  the  following 
addresses  were  delivered. 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MINISTER. 

BY  REV.  F.  D.  HEMENWAY,  A.  M. 

We  meet  to-night  under  the  shadow  of  what  we  all 
feel  to  be  a public  calamity — a calamity  to  our  Institute, 
for  it  has  pleased  God  to  remove  from  her  one  whose 
very  name  was  a tower  of  strength,  and  whose  presence 
was  a crown  of  beauty — a calamity  to  our  common  Zion, 
for  a stately  and  polished  pillar  has  been  leveled  to  the 
dust,  a voice  always  eloquent  for  truth,  and  humanity, 
and  God  is  hushed  in  death — a calamity  to  this  com- 
munity, for  a prince  in  our  Israel,  a leader  of  the  mili- 
tant host,  one  widely  known,  worthily  distinguished,  and 
warmly  loved,  has  been  suddenly  stricken  down.  Many 


34 


APPENDIX. 


of  us  feel  it  to  be  a personal  calamity,  for  I do  not  speak 
for  myself  alone  when  I say  it  is  a privilege,  not  lightly 
to  be  prized,  ever  to  have  known  him,  to  have  enjoyed 
his  friendship,  and  been  molded  by  his  influence. 

And  I come  before  you  rather  as  a deep  and  sincere 
mourner,  than  with  any  hope  of  delineating  the  character 
of  the  eminent  dead.  I come  to  lay  on  his  memory  the 
tribute  of  my  heart  rather  than  the  unworthy  offering  of 
my  intellect.  I stand  to  tell  you  not  how  much  I ad- 
mired him,  but  how  truly  and  warmly  I loved  him.  I 
feel  that  I do  no  injustice  to  the  living  when  I say  that 
there  are  regards  in  which  Dr.  Dempster  stood  alone  in 
my  affection,  as  he  now  stands  and  must  ever  stand  alone 
in  my  memory. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  duty  assigned  me,  in  these  sad 
solemnities,  to  relate  the  history  or  to  sketch  the  general 
character  of  him  to  whose  memory  these  services  are 
devoted.  It  is  not  foi\  me  to  speak  of  his  genius ; his 
varied  and  extraordinary  attainments ; his  unsurpassed 
industry ; his  rigid  parsimony  of  time ; his  steady  in- 
clination toward  whatever  might  improve  the  condition, 
elevate  the  character,  and  promote  the  efficiency  of  that 
Church  in  which  he  was  a happy  member  and  honored 
minister  for  fifty  years  ; the  simplicity  and  modesty  with 
which  he  bore  the  distinguished  honors  so  worthily  con- 
ferred on  him  ; that  uniform  courtesy  of  demeanor  and 
kindliness  of  heart  which  made  him  more  than  welcome 
in  every  circle.  Nay,  I do  not  stand  here  to  praise  him, 
though  if  this  were  my  office  never  again  might  I find 
materials  so  rich. 

My  assignment  requires  me  to  speak  of  Dr.  Dempster 
AS  A Christian  Minister.  I have  it  deeply  to  regret 
that  this  task  has  not  fallen  to  one  accustomed  to  hear 
the  rich  and  glowing  utterances  that  fell  from  his  lips  in 


DK.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MINISTER. 


35 


the  (lays  of  his  earlier  ministiy,  before,  by  the  decline  of 
his  physical  vigor  and  the  abstriiseness  of  his  studies,  the 
power  he  once  wielded  over  the  masses  had  in  any  meas- 
ure passed  away.  Or  if  it  might  not  be  so,  I could  wish 
the  lateness  of  my  invitation  to  bear  part  in  these  serv- 
ices, and  the  pressing  nature  of  my  subsequent  engage- 
ments had  not  precluded  the  possibility  of  my  conferring 
freely  and  extensively  with  the  few  among  us  who  sat 
under  his  ministry  in  his  palmy  days,  before  the  fervor 
and  force*  of  his  eloquence  had  in  any  measure  abated. 
But  as  even  this  might  not  be,  I must  to-night  assist  my- 
self by  the  reports  I have  many  times  had  from  those  thus 
favored,  but  must  rely  mainly  on  my  personal  experiences 
covering  twelve  years  of  acquaintance  with  him,  and  my 
somewhat  intimate  knowledge  of  his  personal  habits  and 
characteristics. 

A full  representation  of  Dr.  Dempster  as  a minister 
would  be/  a complete  picture  of  Dr.  Dempster  as  a man, 
for  he  was  nothing  if  not  a minister.  Here  is  the  key- 
note to  his  whole  character,  the  focal  point  on  which  all 
the  faculties  of  his  nature  shed  their  converging  light ; or 
rather  it  is  the  central  sun  holding  all  his  powers  in  a 
rigid  and  beautiful  order,  and  continually  pouring  over 
the  whole  a baptismal  glory.  Unlike  some,  his  absence 
from  the  pastoral  work,  the  ordinary  and  regular  function 
of  the  ministry,  does  not  indicate  any  lack  of  interest  in 
that  work,  or  any  want  of  devotion  to  it ; but  rather  it 
showed  how  deep  was  that  interest,  how  intense  and  all- 
absorbing  that  devotion.  He  was  the  diligent  and  suc- 
cessful student,  the  acute  and  profound  thinker,  the  emi- 
nent philosopher  and  divine,  the  patient,  laborious,  and 
self-sacrificing  instructor,  because,  and  only  because,  he 
was  in  his  deepest  soul — his  inmost  life,  a Christian  min- 
ister, ‘‘separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God.’^ 


36 


APPENDIX. 


In  analyzing  his  ministerial  character  I find : 

I.  Unswerving  Christian  devotedness.  I never  shall  forget, 
and  I trust  I never  may  lose  the  thrill  that  passed  through 
my  soul  on  an  occasion  near  my  first  acquaintance  with  the 
Doctor.  For  a special  purpose  he  had  put  into  my  hands 
one  of  his  books — an  old  volume  bearing  the  marks  of  his 
frequent  removals  and  of  the  fires  and  floods  through 
which  it  had  passed ; but  it  was  the  label  that  attracted 
my  notice.  It  was  a plain  label,  exhibiting  no  affectation 
of  family  pride,  no  assumption  of  personal  distinction,  but 
bearing  simply  the  name  “John  Dempster,’’  and  then  the 
motto  ^^vota  mea  vita — my  life  is  vowed. I felt  like  one 
who  had  been  guided  by  his  angel  to  a pearl  of  inestima- 
ble worth.  I saw  at  once  the  secret  of  that  sublime  life. 
I caught  a glimpse  of  the  eternal  granite  on  which  that 
massive  character  so  firmly  rested.  In  this  single  sen- 
tence, as  I at  once  felt,  and  a better  subsequent  acquaint- 
ance has  only  confirmed  the  impression,  we  have  the  man. 
There  was  in  him  a controlling  conviction  that  he  be- 
longed to  God;  “to  glorify  God  was  his  aim,  to  speak 
for  God  his  message,  to  exhibit  God  his  life.”  He  owned 
one  master-purpose,  one  consuming  passion,  that  swal- 
lowed up  every  meaner  impulse  and  unworthy  ambition. 
He  had  prayerfully,  and,  as  he  believed,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Infinite  Spirit,  adopted  a life-plan ; and  no 
difficulty,  no  danger,  no  defeat,  no  disaster  could  cause 
him  to  swerve  from  it  a hair-breadth.  Having  selected 
his  position  he  maintained  it  with  rock-like  firmness. 
Against  him  the  storms  beat  and  the  waves  dashed 
in  vain. 

Here  is  the  divine  secret  of  his  eminently-successful 
career.  He  was  strong  because  he  felt  himself  linked  to 
Omnipotence  ; he  was  great  because  the  idea  of  God  had 
lodged  deeply  in  his  soul  ; he  was  earnest  because  eternal 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MINISTER.  37 

motives  were  continually  urging  him  on  ; he  was  girded 
of  God  for  his  important  mission. 

As  a second  factor  of  his  character  as  a minister,  I 
mention — 

II.  His  high  estimate  of  the  Pastoral  Office.  This  was 
indicated  in  no  doubtful  manner. 

1.  By  the  general  preparation  he  sought  for  his  work. 

This  was  of  the  most  varied  and  thorough  character. 

His  plans  of  study,  early  formed  and  rigidly  adhered  to 
during  a ministerial  life  spanning  half  a century,  were 
most  comprehensive.  He  sought,  so  far  as  possible,  liter- 
ally to  intermeddle  with  all  knowledge.  His  general 
acquaintance  with  classical  literature,  with  the  sacred 
tongues  of  the  original  Scriptures,  -with  several  modern 
languages,  and  the  various  branches  of  physical  science, 
if  not  in  all  instances  so  accurate  as  might  be  gained 
in  the  schools,  was  yet  respectable,  and,  in  view  of 
the  disabilities  under  which  he  labored,  truly  remark- 
able. In  general  history,  and  especially  the  history  of  the 
Church,  he  was  the  peer  of  any  man  who  had  not  made 
this  the  subject  of  exclusive  and  life-long  study.  In  the 
departments  of  metaphysics  and  theology  he  was  prob- 
ably equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  other  man  in  American 
Methodism.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that  he  had 
done  this  work  as  a minister^  and  with  exclusive  reference 
to  his  ministerial  vocation — that  he  was  only  seeking  to 
bring  from  the  dead  and  the  living,  the  past  and  the 
present,  physics  and  metaphysics,  the  natural  and  the 
supernatural,  strength  and  resources  for  one  work — then 
does  his  estimate  of  the  importance  of  that  work  stand 
out  before  us  in  solitary  grandeur. 

2.  The  special  proposition  he  made  for  the  services  of 
the  sanctuary  was  equally  thorough.  No  man,  certainly 
in  these  later  years,  ever  heard  him  preach  a sermon  that 


38 


APPENDIX. 


betrayed  loose  and  careless  preparation.  Though  his 
mode  of  delivery  was  usually  extemporaneous,  yet  his 
preparation  seemed  not  unfrequently  to  extend  even  to 
the  language.  Indeed,  some  of  his  sermons  were  so  terse, 
compact,  and  profound,  as  to  be  more  suitable  to  hold  a 
place  in  a theological  treatise  than  to  be  used  as  addresses 
to  a popular  assembly.  And  here  was  a secret  of  his  loss 
of  pulpit  power  in  his  later  life.  He  did  not  address 
the  masses  so  much  as  the  select  few.  The  labor  it  cost 
to  follow  him  and  understand  him,  and  the  unwilling- 
ness that  too  many  feel  to  pay  the  price  of  intense  and 
protracted  attention,  as  they  sit  under  the  ministry  of  the 
Word,  is  the  reason  why  some  heard  him  indifferently. 

His  texts  were  carefully  chosen,  and  frequently  sug- 
gested, in  a very  striking  and  beautiful  manner,  the  pre- 
cise train  of  thought  intended.  The  first  sermon  I ever 
heard  from  him,  and  one  of  the  best  I ever  heard  from 
any  man,  was  on  the  Atonement,  and  from  this  text — 
‘‘Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together;  righteousness  and 
peace  have  kissed  each  other.’’  I have  heard  him  preach 
on  conscience  from — “If  our  heart  condemn  us,  Gfod  is 
greater  than  our  hearts  and  knoweth  all  things  on 
spiritual  liberty,  from — “If  the  Son  make  us  free,  we 
shall  be  free  indeed;”  on  heaven,  from — “And  there 
shall  be  na  night  there;”  on  the  nature  of  sin,  from — 
“The  wages  of  sin  is  death.”  These  are  specimens  taken 
wholly  at  random  and  from  his  ordinary  discourses,  but 
they  will  suffice  to  illustrate  the  kind  of  texts  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  using. 

I have  thus  far  spoken  of  his  general  character  as  a 
minister.  I may  not  long  dwell  on — 

III.  His  Special  Characteristics  in  this  Work, 

1.  He  was  loyal  to  the  truth. 

That  question  of  Pilate,  though  urged  not  in  Pilate’s 


DK.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MINISTER. 


39 


skeptical  spirit,  was  ever  with  him  the  first  question. 
‘‘What  is  truth  was  written  in  lines  of  calm  thought- 
fulness on  his  very  brow.  I could  not  conceive  of  his 
asking  in  reference  to  his  public  ministrations  merely, 
What  will  please  ? what  will  produce  a sensation  ? 
what  will  secure  popular  applause?  but.  What  is  God’s 
message  to  this  congregation  ? what  is  right  and  true  ? 
and  this  being  answered  in  his  own  conviction,  he  would 
maintain  it  though  the  heavens  should  fall. 

2.  He  was  spiritual. 

Though  his  sermons  were  evidently  doctrinal,  yet  he 
never  presented  the  doctrines  as  “cold,  naked,  and  angry 
propositions.”  He  spoke  as  one  who  had  evidently  a 
deep  experience  of  the  things  of  God — as  one  who  had 
tasted  in  his  own  soul  the  joys  of  that  heaven  to  which 
he  would  allure  us,  and  felt  some  of  the  pains  of  that  hell 
from  which  he  sought  to  deter  us.  Hence  his  words 
were  uttered  with  an  earnestness  and  pathos  that  were 
sometimes  irresistible. 

3.  He  was  Methodistic. 

Though  not  narrow  in  his  views  or  feelings,  yet  his 
character  bore  the  peculiar  stamp  of  our  own  denomina- 
tion. In  the  doctrines  he  presented,  in  the  fervor  and 
force  of  his  eloquence,  and  in  the  type  of  spiritual  experi- 
ence he  held  up,  he  was  a genuine  Methodist  preacher. 
He  was  so  by  intelligent  conviction  and  deep  and  precious 
experience.  An  anecdote  I once  had  from  his  own  lips 
may  illustrate  this  : 

When  first  stationed  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  he  received 
an  early  call  from  a prominent  Episcopalian  clergyman, 
then  resident  in  that  city.  In  the  course  of  the  conversa- 
tion he  remarked,  “Mr.  Dempster,  I am  glad  to  welcome 
you  to  our  city.  Some  of  your  preachers  here  have  been 

somewhat  tinged  with  fanaticism,  but  from  what  I have 

36 


40 


APPENDIX. 


heard  of  you,  I am  sure  you  will  countenance  no  such 
proceedings.’’  Said  Dr.  Dempster,  ‘‘You  have  entirely 
mistaken  my  character,  sir.  If  I understand  your  use  of 
the  term,  I am  one  of  the  most  fanatical  men  on  the  foot- 
stool ; and  I intend  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  promote 
such  fanaticism  in  this  city.”  And  he  was  successful ; 
for  there  commenced  under  his  ministry  there  such  a 
gracious  visitation  as  was  never  known  besides  in  the 
history  of  that  city ; the  blessed  fruits  of  which  are  scat- 
tered far  and  wide. 

4.  He  sometimes  exhibited  a rare  felicity  of  style. 

His  general  style  was  not  perfect ; it  was  too  stiff  and 
artificial ; but  he  had  single  sentences  and  passages  that 
were  perfect  gems.  He  frequently  seemed  to  make  “truth 
visible  in  the  form  of  beauty.”  He  had  the  peculiarity 
of  giving  a single  sentence  a sword-like  sharpness,  causing 
it  to  pierce  to  the  very  center  of  the  soul.  “ Better  arm 
against  said  he,  at  the  close  of  a sermon  on  con- 

science, every  devil  in  hell  than  to  moke  your  own  con^ 
science  yotir  enemy ^ In  the  peroration  of  a sermon,  in 
which  he  had  set  forth  with  rare  ability  the  internal  evi- 
dence of  Christianity,  he  exclaimed,  and  with  that  peculiar 
emphasis  which  he  alone  could  give,  If  those  Galileans 
could  invent  such  a religion  as  this,  they  could  light  up  a 
7iew  star  in  the  heavens. 

5.  He  was  sometimes  overwhelmingly  eloquent.  Not 
so  frequently  in  these  later  years,  and  yet  even  we  have 
not  been  without  some  glimpses  of  his  rare  pulpit  power. 
It  is  not  long  since  I heard  a highly-intelligent  lady,  who 
has  been  accustomed  to  hear  him  from  time  to  time,  re- 
mark, “ I hear  no  man  preach  who  stirs  me  so  profoundly 
as  Dr.  Dempster.”  Said  one  of  our  best  and  ablest  men, 
who  heard  him  preach  many  times  in  a revival  that  oc- 
curred at  Evanston  shortly  after  the  Doctor  made  his 


DK.  DEMPSTEH  AS  A MINISTER. 


41 


residence  there,  ‘‘His  sermons  were  among  the  most 
solemn  and  powerful  I ever  heard.’’ 

6.  In  the  devotional  part  of  the  minister’s  work  he 
.was  preeminent.  I have  heard  many  men  pray,  but 
no  man  like  Dr.  Dempster.  In  the  fitness  of  his  terms, 
the  felicitous  turns  of  expression,  the  delicate  gleams  of 
imagery,  the  vigor  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  thought 
expressed,  and,  above  all,  the  fervor,  the  unction,  the 
rapt  inspiration  of  his  style,  he  was  most  remarkable. 
The  Holy  Ghost  seemed  to  fiow  forth  in  his  utterances. 
Often  have  his  prayers  seemed  to  me  to  combine  the 
fervor  of  Peter,  the  faith  of  Paul,  the  spirituality  of 
John,  and  the  inspired  beauty  of  Isaiah;  and,  mingled 
with  all,  such  childlike  simplicity  and  such  a holy  unc- 
tion as  to  make  us  feel  that  he  was  in  the  moment  in- 
spired for  that  work. 

Not  soon  will  the  echoes  of  that  pleading  voice  utterly 
die  away  on  the  ear  of  my  memory : never,  I trust,  will 
those  holy  impressions  leave  my  heart. 

My  final  remark  bears  on  his  character  as  pastor  rather 
than  preacher.  I will  not  sit  down  without  refendng  to — 

IV.  His  Christian  Courtesy, 

On  this  point  I have  a special  right  to  speak.  The 
peculiar  and  delicate  character  of  my  relations  to  him  is 
my  full  warrant.  For  two  years  I was  under  him  as  a 
student,  and  for  several  years  as  a subordinate  teacher ; 
and  during  these  years  of  intercourse  with  him  in  such 
relations — relations  that  would  be  almost  sure  to  bring 
into  view  the  unamiable  side  of  a man’s  character,  if 
such  a side  there  was — I can  recall  no  instance  of  an  un- 
necessary wound  to  my  feelings ; not  a single  exhibition 
of  infirmity  of  temper ; no  harsh,  or  careless,  or  unfeel- 
ing word ; but  always  the  most  tender  regard  for  the 
rights,  interests,  convictions,  and  even  prejudices  of  those 


42 


APPENDIX. 


with  whom  he  had  to  do.  The  sweetness  of  his  temper, 
his  perfect  self-control,  the  affability  of  his  manners,  his 
rare  conversational  powers,  and  keen  and  ready  wit,  made 
him  a favorite  in  every  circle.  Such  a man,  combining 
eminent  social  qualities  with  vigor  of  character  and  rigid 
regularity  of  life,  and  at  the  same  time  evincing  such  zeal 
and  devotedness  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  must  have  had 
the  highest  qualifications  for  the  pastoral  office.  The 
very  substance  and  spirit  of  his  life  would  be  to  all  the 
most  eloquent  invitation  to  the  calm  peace  in  which  he 
seemed  perpetually  to  abide. 

Such  was  Dr.  Dempster,  as  I have  seen  him.  Such 
was  the  sublime  life  which  is  now  lost  to  our  view  in  the 
heavens.  Noble  man  ! may  God  bring  us  again  to  your 
blessed  company  ! 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY. 

BY  REV.  D.  P.  KIDDER,  D.  D. 

I RECOGNIZE  my  call  to  treat  this  particular  topic  on  the 
present  occasion,  to  have  arisen  from  the  circumstance  that 
a quarter  of  a century  ago  our  departed  friend  and  myself 
were  fellow-laborers  in  the  mission  field  on  the  shores  of 
South  America.  It  is  true  that  we  were  more  than  a thou- 
sand miles  apart,  and  had  never  seen  each  other's  face ; 
yet  we  were  ministers  of  the  same  Church  and  represent- 
atives of  the  same  Society,  and  although  stationed  sever- 
ally in  the  capitals  of  two  different  nations,  speaking  dif- 
ferent languages,  nevertheless  we  were  toiling  for  the  same 
glorious  object,  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Before  entering  specifically  upon  my  topic,  and  as  a 
pertinent  but  somewhat  indirect  introduction,  I must  be 
permitted  to  give  a few  reminiscences  of  Dr.  Dempster  as 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY. 


43 


a pastor,  a topic  not  assigned  to  any  one  this  evening. 
In  the  years  1826  and  1827  he  was  stationed  in  Kochester, 
N.  Y.  It  was  at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the 
city,  and  his  laYors  were  blessed  with  an  extraordinary 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  A revival  occurred 
which  had  not  only  enlarged  greatly  the  borders  of  our 
own  Church,  but  had  extended  to  other  Churches,  and 
thus  practically  baptized  the  foundations  of  the  new  city 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  To  this  day  the  influence  of  that 
revival  is  felt  in  the  religious  character  of  Kochester,  and 
there  yet  linger  among  its  older  inhabitants  those  who  re- 
member brother  Dempster  as  an  apostle  of  Christianity  in 
earnest.  Not  only  there,  but  scattered  in  various  parts  of 
the  land,  are  persons  who  cherish  similar  memories.  I 
have  met  them  in  the  great  metropolis,  in  Chicago,  and  in 
various  places  among  the  cities  and  prairies  of  the  North- 
West. 

Ten  years  later,  in  1836-7,  it  was  my  lot  to  succeed 
him  in  the  same  field,  and  to  enter  upon  labors  in  which 
his  influence  was  still  visible,  and  to  mingle  in  scenes 
where  his  name  was  still  familiar  as  that  of  a faithful  and 
zealous  minister  of  the  Gospel..  I there  first  learned  to  re- 
spect and  honor  him,  and  the  one  impression  made  upon 
my  mind  by  what  I heard  and  saw  of  his  influence  was, 
that  he  was,  in  a broad  sense,  a model  pastor. 

It  was  in  1836,  the  year  of  my  own  appointment  to 
Kochester,  that  the  subject- of  our  reminiscences  sailed  as 
a missionary  to  Buenos  Ayres,  and  I recollect  commend- 
ing the  fact  to  the  attention  of  the  children  of  that  city  in 
an  address  on  the  text,  '‘There  was  a man  sent  from  God 
whose  name  was  John.’’  The  object  of  the  address  was 
to  present  an  instructive  parallel  between  John  the  Bap- 
tist and  their  former  pastor,  who  had  now  gone  as  a har- 
binger of  Christ  to  the  Southern  Hemisphere. 


44 


APPENDIX. 


Whoever  has  given  attention  to  the  history  of  missions 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will  have  noted  the 
decade  from  1830  to  1840  as  a period  of  great  increase  in 
the  missionary  spirit  and  great  progress  in  the  missionary 
work.  Prior  to  that  period  our  missions  had  been  con- 
fined to  domestic  fields  and  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  our 
own  continent. 

In  1832  the  mission  to  Liberia  was  established ; in 
1834  that  to  Oregon.  In  1835  F.  E.  Pitts,  of  Tennessee, 
had  been  sent  out  to  ascertain  what  openings  there  might 
be  on  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America.  He  returned 
in  the  Spring  of  1836  and  made  his  report  at  the  General 
Conference  held  that  year  in  Cincinnati,  in  favor  of  estab- 
lishing missions  at  Eio  de  Janeiro  and  Buenos  Ayres. 
The  Church  acted  promptly.  Justin  Spaulding  was  very 
soon  sent  out  to  Eio,  and  in  the  Autumn  of  the  same  year 
John  Dempster  sailed  for  Buenos  Ayres.  His  passage  was 
long  and  wearisome,  but,  by  reembarkation  at  Eio,  was  at 
length  accomplished  in  safety. 

The  work  upon  which  he  entered  was  one  of  delicacy  and 
difficulty.  It  was  a very  different  thing  to  make  a flying 
visit  as  Mr.  Pitts  had  done,  and  enjoy  for  a few  weeks  the 
hospitalities  and  politeness  of  the  merchants,  from  going, 
as  did  Mr.  Dempster,  to  make  a permanent  establishment 
of  the  Church.  Few  persons  who  have  always  lived  in 
Protestant  countries  and  under  the  toleration  granted  and 
guaranteed  by  Protestant  laws,  can  form  any  just  idea  of 
the  embarrassments  and  obstacles  that  hedge  up  the  way 
of  a Protestant  missionary  entering  upon  his  work  in  a 
Eoman  Catholic  country.  Not  only  have  indifference 
and  contempt  to  be  encountered,  but  covert  and  open  op- 
position in  unnumbered  forms. 

Mr.  Dempster  found  to  his  surprise  that  laws  existed  in 
the  Argentine  Eepublic  prohibiting  him  from  even  preach- 


BK.  BEMBSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY. 


45 


irig  a sermon  without  a special  license  from  the  Govern- 
ment. Months  were  occupied  in  passing  through  the  te- 
dious formalities  required  to  secure  such  a license  ; but  it 
was  secured  at  length.  No  suitable  edifice  being  available 
in  which  to  unfold  his  message,  it  became  necessary  to  hire 
rooms  in  which  to  preach,  and  this  w^as  done  during  the 
wdiole  period  of  his  residence  there.  This  circumstance 
prompted  Mr.  D.  to  take  measures  for  the  erection  of  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  Buenos  Ayres,  which  was, 
after  no  small  effort,  provided  for,  partly  by  subscriptions  on 
the  spot  and  partly  by  an  appropriation  from  the  Missionary 
Board.  But  tedious  delays  occurred  in  its  erection.  The 
country  was  in  an  unsettled  state,  and  having  become  in- 
volved in  a difficulty  with  Prance,  the  latter  nation 
blockaded  the  Biver  La  Plata  and  the  port  of  Buenos 
Ayres  for  more  than  two  years  continuously.  Hence 
business  was  stagnated  and  the  church  not  completed  till 
after  Mr.  D.  returned  home.  Nevertheless  he  toiled  on, 
diligently  and  hopefully,  laying  foundations  for  the  fu- 
ture. He  gathered  a congregation  of  North  Americans, 
English,  Scotch,  and  other  English-speaking  people,  to 
whom  he  preached  regularly,  and  among  whom  the  Word 
of  God  was  glorified  in  the  awakening  and  conversion  of 
souls.  He  opened  a Sabbath  school,  and  also  a school 
for  general  instruction  in  the  English  language,  sending 
to  the  United  States  for  teachers  of  the  latter. 

I am  fortunate  in  being  able  to  introduce  at  this  point 
some  extracts  from  my  own  files  of  correspondence  for  the 
years  1838-40,  which  give  brief  but  graphic  views  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  mission  at  Buenos  Ayres.  The  first  is 
from  a letter  written  by  the  Rev.  J.  Dempster,  Oct.  13, 1838  : 
“Our  condition  here  has  been  one  of  accumulating  un- 
pleasantness and  peril  for  almost  seven  months  past. 
Such  has  been  the  current  of  public  events  as  to  leave 


46 


APPENDIX. 


dormant  scarcely  any  bad  passion  of  human  nature, 
Want  has  pinched^ hundreds  of  this  people,  and  woes  of 
many  descriptions  have  howled  through  the  city.  The 
French  affair  appears  now  near  a crisis,  but  it  is  still  un- 
certain whether  it  will  die  away  into  peace  or  result  in  a 
bloody  war:  the  latter  seems  the  most  probable  issue. 
Should  this  be  the  case  great  political  changes  will 
doubtless  take  place  which  will  tend  greatly  to  enlarge 
the  field  of  moral  and  spiritual  enterprise.  At  present 
we  are  permitted  to  act  directly  only  on  the  foreign  popu- 
lation ; but  should  the  power  of  the  present  party  perish, 
access  would  doubtless  be  had  to  the  mass  of  the  natives. 
I am  giving  some  attention  to  the  Spanish  language,  so 
that  in  the  event  legal  obstacles  should  be  speedily  re- 
moved we  may  enter  immediately  upon  the  high,  ultimate 
objects  of  this  mission.  The  intense  solicitude  is  scarce 
conceivable  which  these  thrilling  prospects  awaken.  We 
hope  to  commence  our  chapel  so  soon  as  the  conflicting 
elements  shall  sink  into  a calm.’’ 

During  the  following  month  Mr.  Hiram  A.  Wilson, 
the  first  teacher  of  the  mission,  arrived  out.  He  wrote, 
under  date  of  November  20,  1838:  find  every  thing 

connected  with  this  mission,  so  far  as  I have  been  able 
to  learn,  in  a very  prosperous  condition,  considering  the 
present  state  of  the  city.  The  chapel  is  crowded  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  Sunday  school,  of  about  forty  scholars, 
is  well  managed.  The  Church  class  contains  fourteen 
members.  A lot  of  land  is  about  contracted  for  on 
which  to  erect  a church,  and  the  timber  for  the  same 
is  already  sent  for  to  the  United  States.  The  French 
blockade  still  continues,  and  how  much  longer  it  will 
continue  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  French  have  pub- 
lished what  they  call  their  ultimatum,  which  is  rejected 
in  toto  by  this  Government.  I find  that  Rosas  is  ex- 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY. 


47 


tremely  popular  in  the  city,  anri  is  said  to  be  among 
his  military  forces.  His  power  is  now  unlimited,  and 
any  person  suspected  of  being  an  enemy  of  the  existing 
Government  is  immediately  shot,  without  mercy,  judge, 
or  jury.’’  The  same  letter  adds  : ‘‘I  did  not  find  brother 
Dempster  in  the  city,  and  I am  indeed  very  sorry  to  be 
obliged  to  say  to  you  that  he  is  in  a most  miserable  state 
of  health.  He  has  been  absent  from  the  city  about  four 
weeks,  staying  with  a friend  thirty-six  miles  distant  in 
the  country.” 

Under  date  of  December  14,  1838,  the  teacher  writes  : 

Brother  Dempster  came  from  Montevideo  yesterday, 
having  visited  that  place  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  present  prospects  for  establishing  a mission  in  that 
city.  Montevideo  is  the  capital  of  the  Banda  Oriental, 
a neighboring  Spanish  republic.  His  report  is  most 
favorable ; so  much  so  that  he  has  already  written  to 
the  Board  for  a man  to  be  .sent  to  that  place — one  who 
will  teach  a school  during  the  week  and  preach  on  the 
Sabbath.  A very  respectable  congregation  can  be  ob- 
tained now,  and  a school  of  thirty-five  scholars  obtained 
without  difficulty.  The  Government  is  well  disposed 
toward  the  establishment  of  a mission,  and  Ave  see  no 
reason  why  the  opening  is  not  a favorable  one,  and  the 
attempt  likely  to  succeed.  May  God  speed  the  glorious 
work  till  every  city  and  village  in  all  this  dark  and  be- 
nighted land  shall  receive  the  Gospel,  and  learn  its  saving 
effects  ! 

'‘We  have  just  recei\^ed  this  evening  an  answer  from 
the  Governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  in  reply  to  a request 
which  we  made  a few  days  since  to  be  authorized  to 
build  a chapel.  It  is  favorable.  ^Vioe  la  Federacion." 
Brother  Dempster’s  health  is  still  veiy  poor — so  much 
so  that  he  is  by  no  means  able  to  officiate  in  the  chapel. 


48 


APPENDIX. 


nor  does  he  attempt  it.  He  preached,  however,  at  Monte- 
video last  Sabbath,  the  first  time  in  nearly  two  months. 
He  is  now  in  the  city  with  ns,  but  will  retire  to  the  camps 
in  a few  days.” 

These  allusions  to  brother  Dempster’s  health  are  copied 
to  illustrate  what  a protracted  struggle  our  departed  friend 
maintained  with  disease.  Those  who  have  only  known 
him  in  advanced  life  have  attributed  his  apparent  feeble- 
ness to  old  age ; whereas  his  health  was  better  in  old  age 
than  in  middle  life.  It  was,  moreover,  in  this  determined 
struggle  with  bodily  infirmities,  as  well  as  surrounding 
and  confronting  obstacles,  that  he  exhibited  that  most 
essential  characteristic  of  a successful  missionary — per- 
severance against  difficulties. 

The  teacher  associated  with  him  partook  of  the  same 
spirit.  For  two  weeks  after  opening  his  school  he  had 
but  tivo  scholars  ; but,  toiling  hopefully  on,  he  was  en- 
abled to  write  in  January,  1840  : ‘‘My  school  at  present 
consists  of  about  eic/hty,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages — 
Creoles,  English,  Germans,  Fi-ench,  Irish,  and  Scotch.” 
Every  letter  throughout  this  entire  correspondence  speaks 
of  the  relentless  blockade  as  still  continuing.  The  only 
means  of  communication  with  the  outer  world  was  through 
the  British  mail-packets  and  neutral  men-of-war.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1840  brother  Dempster  visited  the 
United  States,  and  attended  the  General  Conference  held 
that  year  in  Baltimore.  He  subsequently  returned  to  his 
mission,  and  resumed  his  labors  with  somewhat  recruited 
health.  He  was  laboring  on  diligently,  having  secured 
the  partial  completion  of  the  chapel,  and  hoping  for  in- 
creased facilities,  as  the  blockade  was  at  length  about  to 
be  raised,  when  the  Missionaiy  Board,  after  a period  of 
great  financial  revulsions,  deemed  it  necessary  to  curtail 
its  operations,  and  called  him  home.  He  arrived  in  New 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MISSIONARY. 


49 


York  in  1842,  and  immediately  entered  upon  the  pastoral 
work  in  the  Yestry- Street  Church. 

But  the  cause  which  he  had  labored  to  establish  in 
Buenos  Ayres  had  then  obtained  so  firm  a foothold  that 
the  people  would  not  consent  to  a withdrawal  of  the 
mission.  They  pledged  themselves  to  raise  one  thousand 
dollars  per  annum  for  its  support  in  continuance.  And 
by  their  perseverance,  and  the  cooperation  of  Dr.  Demp- 
ster’s successors,  it  has  not  only  been  kept  up  to  this  day, 
but  has  the  present  year  received  enlargement  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  a second  missionary  to  aid  in  extending 
the  Gospel  to  the  interior. 

It  is  a striking  and  happy  coincidence  that  a son-in-law 
and  daughter  of  Dr.  Dempster,  the  Rev.  W.  Goodfellow 
and  wife,  are  now  laboring  successfully  in  the  mission 
founded  by  their  honored  father,  twenty-seven  years  ago. 

As  a missionary,  Dr.  Dempster  manifested  the  same 
traits  of  character  for  which  he  was  distinguished  in  other 
walks  of  life,  but  which  were  found  well  adapted  to  that 
peculiar  vocation. 

^1.  A disposition  to  shrink  from  no  danger  or  incon- 
venience when  the  cause  of  Christ  might  be  promoted  by 
his  efforts. 

2.  A readiness  to  see  and  improve  opportunities  of  use- 
fulness of  every  kind.  This  was  illustrated  by  his  pro- 
vision for  schools  of  secular  instruction  as  an  auxiliary 
means  of  evangelization. 

3.  Perseverance  under  severe  physical  affliction,  and 
against  discouraging  outward  circumstances. 

4.  A determination  to  turn  life  to  the  largest  and  best 
account,  both  in  great  undertakings  and  in  scrupulously 
redeeming  his  moments. 

While  in  South  America  he  kept  up  his  literary  dili- 
gence, learning  the  Spanish  language,  and  writing  articles 


50 


APPENDIX. 


for  the  Quarterly,  also  on  theological  topics,  in  addition 
to  his  required  duties. 

It  was  a beautiful  and  exemplary  act  for  him  in  ad- 
vanced life,  after  twenty  years  in  the  ministry,  to  identify 
himself  with  the  rising  enterprise  of  Foreign  Missions. 
In  this  respect  he  takes  rank  with  Coke,  and  Carey,  and 
Phillips — names  that  can  never  die. 

The  result  of  his  missionary  experience  was  eminently 
happy  on  his  own  life  and  character.  His  residence  in 
another  hemisphere  expanded  his  views  and  sympathies 
toward  the  world.  It  gave  him  a store  of  happy  recol- 
lections, and  inspired  him  with  the  sublimest  emotions 
when  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform  advocating  the 
evangelization  of  perishing  men. 

On  the  whole,  Dr.  Dempster’s  mission  life  of  about  six 
years  is  an  extremely-interesting  period  of  his  history, 
identifying  him  personally  with  the  broadest  phase  of 
Christian  effort.  Although  he  did  not  spend  his  days  on 
foreign  shores,  his  example  and  his  teachings  have  stimu- 
lated others  to  do  so,  and  thus  his  record  is  still,  and  long 
will  be,  perpetuated. 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT  AND  THINKER. 

BY  REV.  HEKRY  BAXXISTER,  I).  D. 

What  might  have  been  the  career  of  John  Dempster 
had  he  not  in  his  youth  been  powerfully  and  vividly  di- 
rected to  a religious  life,  no  one,  of  course,  will  attempt 
to  say.  It  is  obvious  that  the  marked  characteristics  of 
his  nature,  manifested  doubtless  from  earliest  boyhood, 
were  hUensity  and  depth.  These  came  of  necessity  from 
the  two  native  and  most  prominent  features  of  his  mind  ; 
namely,  a glowing  imagination  and  a sturdy,  unfaltering 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT. 


51 


will.  They  would  have  brought  him  into  distinction  of 
some  sort  under  whatever  impulse  he  might  have  lived  and 
acted. 

But  we  are  to  judge  of  him  from  the  career  which 
transpired  in  his  case,  and  present  his  intellectual  char- 
acter in  the  direction  it  took  from  the  period  of  his  con- 
version to  God,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  Prior  to 
this  his  education  had  been  much  neglected,  as.  in  his 
early  years,  his  father  had  died,  and  the  support  of  his 
widowed  mother  and  family  was  left  in  good  measure  to 
him.  From  and  ever  after  this  period  his  desire  for  study 
was  to  be  gratified  only  by  an  unflagging  method  in  the 
use  of  his  time  and  strength  upon  his  books — he  always, 
even  to  the  day  of  his  last  illness,  rising  at  four  o’clock  in 
the  morning,  and  religiously  observing  through  each  day 
his  set  hours  for  reading  and  thinking. 

With  occasional  help  he  mastered  the  Latin  and  Greek 
grammars,  and  became  early  in  his  ministry  a reader  of 
the  Greek  Testament.  He  pursued  the  classics  to  a con- 
siderable extent,  with  a view  to  the  acquirement,  among 
other  things,  of  an  expressive  vocabulary.  His  taste  ran 
to  a compact  style  of  expression.  It  was  his  special  aim 
to  compress  his  thoughts  into  as  few  words  as  possible, 
and  those  of  the  greatest  definiteness  of  meaning.  An  in- 
structor’s forming  hand  would  have  been  of  great  service 
to  him  here,  and  would  have  directed  to  an  enlargement 
of  his  list  of  words  and  a wiser  choice,  in  some  instances, 
in  his  selection  of  them  ; at  least,  a larger  infusion  of  the 
Saxon  element  would  have  added  both  force  and  grace  to 
his  expressions,  so  prone,  as  he  must  have  been,  to  depart 
from  the  usual  idiomatic  style.  He  would  also  have  been 
saved  from  a certain  degree  of  obscurity  which  arose 
sometimes  from  an  excessive  brevity,  and  from  the  blem- 
ish of  inaptness  in  the  use  of  certain  words.  But  it  is, 


62 


APPENDIX. 


after  all,  wonderful  to  what  perfection  he,  with  such  lim- 
ited means,  did  attain  in  his  modes  of  expression,  and 
what  affluence  of  thought  he  would  pour  forth  to  delighted 
hearers,  notwithstanding  his  meager  vocabulary,  which, 
unguided  and  alone,  he  seems  to  have  prepared  chiefly 
from  words  of  classic  origin.  There  was  the  glow  of 
genius,  in  such  times,  on  every  terse  and  expressive  pe- 
riod. Pared  down  to  the  greatest  conciseness,  his  sen- 
tences rolled  out  the  finest  and  often  the  most  startling 
conceptions. 

He  added,  in  due  time,  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  to  the 
Latin  and  the  Greek.  Never  was  a moment  lost  to  these 
in  the  intervals  of  pastoral  and  pulpit  duty.  A large 
amount  of  his  study  he  performed  on  horseback,  through 
open  country  or  forest  trail,  and  in  inconvenient  cabins 
where  perchance  he  lodged.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  ministry  of  his  Church  in  that  day,  that  he 
armed  himself,  also,  with  all  possible  resources  to  meet  every 
theological  subtilty.  His  mind,  hence,  fell  naturally  into 
the  groove  of  dialectics,  in  which  it  so  eminently  worked 
ever  since.  The  points  of  controversy  were  chiefly  meta- 
physical, and  he  betook  himself,  as  it  behooved  him,  to 
the  profound  study  of  Butler,  Locke,  Keid,  Stewart,  Brown, 
and  other  reputed  authors  within  his  reach.  He  united 
the  exact  sciences,  more  or  less,  to  these  readings,  and 
thus  he  purified  and  sharpened  his  distinguished  logical 
faculty,  in  the  use  of  which,  as  we  know,  he  has  always 
delighted  to  revel. 

The  decided  disadvantage  of  having  had  no  instructors, 
no  liberalizing  atmosphere  of  learned  halls  to  nurture  and 
polish  his  intellectual  growth,  no  sobering  attritions  that 
occur  in  daily  recitation  drill  and  in  hourly  fellowship 
with  co-laborers  in  study,  he  ever  felt  and  acknowledged. 
Yet  there ^was  in  him  much  less  exhibition  of  offensive  and 


DE.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT. 


53 


narrow  conceits  than  is  sometimes  seen  in  cases  of  long- 
continned  self-training.  His  learning,  of  course,  occupied 
a narrower  compass  and  shared  a more  limited  scope  than 
if,  under  masters,  he  had  swept  the  entire  field  of  science  ; 
and  he  might  to  some,  in  consequenee,  appear  overcon- 
fident and  dogmatic  ; hut  it  was  only  in  those  classes  of 
subjects  in  which,  through  long  and  concentrated  think- 
ing, he  felt  that  he  had  a right  to  he  positive. 

For  similar  reasons  he  was,  perhaps,  less  prepared  to 
appreciate  the  truest  appliances  of  the  educator.  Him- 
self a marvel  of  success  in  study,  under  the  most  stinted 
privilege,  it  was  easy  for  him  to  judge  wrongly  of  the 
varying  capacities  of  his  pupils,  and  practically  to  set  at 
defiance  the  proper  classification  of  varying  degrees  of  at- 
tainments among  them.  But  if  one  in  six  or  ten  among 
them  could  not  at  times  fathom  his  depth,  or  digest  and 
assimilate  the  profound  subject  of  his  lecture,  he  some- 
how inspired  all  with  a reverential  enthusiasm,  and  un- 
consciously drew  many  to  set  out  for  loftier  intellectual 
attainments.  It  certainly  is  to  his  credit  that,  before  his 
death,  his  judgment — always  in  sympathy  with  progress, 
when  he  saw  its  fitness — observed  the  rising  sentiment, 
and  that  he  gracefully  yielded  to  the  demand  for  a higher 
standard  of  scholarship  in  those  who  are  to  be  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  full  course  of  instruction  in  the  Insti- 
tute. 

In  respect  to  Dr.  Dempster  as  a thinker,  his  portraiture 
is  the  more  difficult,  as  a comparison  of  traits  always 
makes  it  the  easiest  to  present  a case,  and  as  there  is  no 
example  at  hand  that  will  exactly  compare  with  him. 
His  strong  will  made  him  heroic  in  self-denial  and  hard- 
ship, and  especially  enabled  him  to  bend  his  mind  to 
whatever  subject  was  before  him  with  concentrated  and 
long-continued  attention.  Very  few  persons  excelled  him 


54 


APPENDIX. 


in  this  power.  Though  his  mind  had  its  seasons  of  un- 
bending, his  tenacity  of  intellectual  purpose  was  seldom 
allowed  to  he  broken.  He  could  easily  resume  his  study 
and  take  up  the  thought  just  at  the  link  of  connection 
where  he  had  left  it,  with  no  labor  to  gather  his  energies 
again,  but  with  fresh  earnestness  and  intensity.  This 
power,  partly  the  gift  of  nature  and  partly  the  result  of 
discipline  for  over  fifty  years,  was  available  to  him  in  the 
pulpit  or  in  the  deliberative  assembly,  where  by  the  hour 
he  would,  in  extemporaneous  address,  charm  and  often 
overpower  intelligent  audiences  bj^  compact  and  unfalter- 
ing argumentation. 

But  he  used  it  the  most  in  his  study,  in  his  metaphys- 
ical inquiries.  Besides  the  thinking  which  he  devoted  lo 
daily  exercises  with  his  class,  it  was  his  habit  to  have  on 
hand  also  some  special  subject,  usually  metaphysical,  and 
to  linger  long  upon  the  study  and  analysis  of  it.  For 
many  years  past  these  subjects  have  related  mostly  to 
the  doctrines  of  ontology  and  causation.  In  this  high  re- 
gion of  metaphysical  thought — the  region  of  ultimate  cog- 
nitions, or  first  truths — he  delighted  to  speculate.  He 
drew  from  these  cognitions  his  main  weapons  against  as- 
sailants. Whether  or  not  he  settled  their  full  character  as 
first  truths — which  is  the  hardest  problem  of  philosophy — 
is  not  the  question  now ; but  he  used  them  in  every  argu- 
ment. They  served  him  as  elements  for  premises  to  every 
conclusion.  Admit  them,  and  his  conclusions  were  deci- 
sive; deny  or  suspect  them,  and  you  were  asked  to  show 
that  they  were  not  ultimate  truths  by  showing  what  deci- 
sive truth  or  principle  was  antecedent  to  them.  Few,  if 
any,  could  do  this.  First,  because  thought  in  its  last  an- 
alysis has  not  yet  been  settled  by  philosophy  as  decisively 
possible  in  but  a small  number  of  cases,  at  the  most;  and 
secondly,  if  it  were  possible,  few  persons  have  such  a con- 


1)11.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT. 


55 


junction  of  faculties  as  to  possess  so  vivid  and  penetra- 
tive a view  of  this  high  region  of  thought  as  did  Dr. 
Dempster. 

And  this  leads  me  to  repeat  what  at  first  I asserted, 
that,  along  with  a commanding  will,  imagination  was  a 
distinguishing  feature  of  his  mind.  It  showed  itself  in 
the  vivacious  play  of  his  faculty  of  comparison,  giving 
vivid  reminiscence  of  reluctantly-recurring  relations  of 
thought  ; or,  to  state  this  under  a figure,  it  sent  its  light 
along  the  track  of  argument  so  that  the  steps  in  the  proc- 
ess of  the  argument  fiashed  on  his  mind  as  by  intuition. 
It  gave  well-defined  outlines  also  to  his  ideas,  so  that  the 
exactly-fitting  woi’ds  came  readily  for  an  effective  expres- 
sion of  them.  He  did  not  go  feeling  his  way  as  if  in 
doubt  whether  he  were  in  the  right  way  toward  what  he 
deemed  a clinching  conclusion  ; but  he  went  confidently ^ 
and  delivered  his  decision  as  if  it  were  an  oracle  to  he  re- 
ceived and  submitted  to,  not  a mere  statement  to  be 
doubted  and  disputed. 

Safer  or  more  cautious  persons  would  often  think  that 
here  his  imagination  was  playing  the  mischief  with  just 
reasoning ; that  so  dazzling  was  his  impression  of  some 
partial,  some  half  truth,  that  he  unwarrantably  uttered 
himself  with  extravagant  emphasis.  No  doubt  this  was 
at  times  his  striking  fault ; especially  in  practical  things, 
and  often  in  abstract,  his  deliverances  had  sometimes 
too  great  intensity  from  the  glow  which  his  imagination 
spread  over  his  judgment.  In  a calm  and  just  equipoise 
with  the  other  faculties,  the  imagination  is  indispensable 
to  the  successful  reasoner ; hut  let  emotion  at  any  time 
stimulate  it  to  excess,  then  it  seriously  vitiates  the  other- 
wise best-  l^id  premises.  It  does  this  by  the  fallacy  of 
proving  too  much  — by  the  fallacy  of  overstatement  or 
exaggeration. 


56 


APPENDIX. 


Nevertheless,  his  imagination  was  a divine  gift  to  him. 
In  its  free  and  unrestricted  play  in  solemn  public  dis- 
course, and  sometimes  in  the  staid  lecture  or  in  the  class 
exercise,  it  coruscated  its  pure  light  over  his  abstruse 
processes,  and  illumined  to  the  commonest  mind  what 
would  otherwise  have  been  dark  and  unintelligible.  He 
was  by  nature  a poet,  though  he  subjected  his  faculty 
less  to  its  producing  than  to  its  representing,  its  sug- 
gesting power.  Had  this  busy  life  permitted  him  time  to 
survey  all  the  fields  of  literature,  there  would  have  been 
no  limit  to  the  fertility  of  his  resources  for  brilliant  illus- 
tration ; but  he  brought  his  metaphors  from  the  depart- 
ment of  light,  from  the  great  agencies  of  nature,  and 
from  the  drapery  and  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  and 
wfith  these  he  dealt  largely  in  antithesis  and  climax ; and 
if  you  tired  of  his  figures,  perchance  it  was  only  because 
of  their  oft-repeated,  monotonous,  optical  character,  for 
the  most  part. 

The  question  has  occurred.  What  claim  had  John 
Dempster  to  the  rank  of  a philosopher?  So  intense 
was  his  concentration  that  his  thinking  was  more  in 
long  lines  of  thought,  seeking  the  utmost  analysis  of 
subjects,  than  in  grappling  with  large  and  comprehensive 
bodies  of  thought.  As  he  ran  up  his  analyses,  he  would 
often  seem  to  take  positions  that  clashed  with  related 
doctrines  which  fell  not  within  his  track  for  the  time. 
Though  doubtless  to  his  mind  they  were  perfectly  irrecon- 
cilable, it  would  have  broken  his  spell-bound  attention 
to  have  stopped  to  explain  them  ; and  as  his  independent 
criticisms  in  philosophy  and  theology  are  many  of  them 
fragmentary,  it  is  feared  that  his  life  was  too  soon  cut 
off  to  allow  of  his  digesting  them  all  into  a consistent 
and  complete  system.  Abundant  material  is  undoubtedly 
left  for  an  editor’s  hand  to  prove  that  his  life  was  a high 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A STUDENT. 


57 


success  in  furnishing  to  the  Church  and  the  world  rich 
treasures  of  original  thought  both  in  philosophy  and  the- 
ology. His  own  hand  had  indeed  compacted  his  writings 
somewhat  which  relate  to  the  doctrine  of  human  freedom, 
and  to  certain  branches  of  natural  theology ; so  that  his 
claim  to  rank  as  a rich  contributor  to  fields  of  thought 
in  philosophy  will  scarcely  be  denied  him. 

The  truth  in  his  case  was,  that  his  intense  and  deep 
nature  was  ever  fastening  itself  on  plans  of  work  yet  to 
be  executed.  With  great  painstaking  over  his  always 
feeble  health,  he  protracted  his  years  far  beyond  what  was 
once  deemed  a possible  expectation ; but  his  programme 
of  life,  as  we  know,  was  far  from  finished  at  his  death. 
What  revision  or  what  recasting  of  his  voluminous  manu- 
scripts he  might  have  done  we  know  not ; but  we  do 
know  that  he  was  cut  down  with  little  or  no  decay  of  his 
intellectual  power ; and  most  probably  he  looked  for  time 
yet  to  complete  all  his  intellectual  life-work — -then  to  lay 
himself  down  in  thanksgiving  and  joy.  But  he  died  on 
the  threshold  of  such  a reward,  in  hope,  but  not  in  pos- 
session. 

The  grace  of  God  aided  the  strong  energies  of  his 
strong  will,  and  made  him  a notable  representative  of  a 
past  age,  a fresh  sympathizer  and  co-worker  with  the 
ever-passing  present,  and  a nourisher  of  deep  yearnings 
for  the  future,  which  were  to  be  quenched  only  by  the 
sudden  swoop  of  Death  upon  him.  More  than  half  a 
century  since  he  peered  high  according  to  the  standard 
of  that  time ; and  as  knowledge,  and  intellectual  and 
social  power  gradually  rose  in  the  Church,  leaving  lag- 
gards and  fossils  behind,  he  ascended  plane  after  plane 
of  intellectual  position,  with  his  face  firmly  set  to  the  last 
for  never-ceasing  improvement.  The  life  of  thought  and 
progress  he  spent  shall  be  a lasting  and  a lashing  protest 


58 


APPENDIX. 


to  his  survivors,  and  successors,  and  pupils  against  tame- 
ness of  intellectual  ambition,  and  against  servility  to  old- 
time  notions,  as  such,  as  a standard  for  intellectual  life 
and  usefulness.  Though  gone  from  our  midst,  he  lives 
still,  and  tvill  live.  We  shall  see  him  on  the  horizon 
of  the  future,  shedding  light  still  on  many  a dark  point 
by  the  thoughts  he  has  set  afloat  on  the  age,  and  by  the 
beacons  to  his  memory  in  ‘‘the  schools  of  the  prophets.’’ 
Surely  a stiong,  intelligent,  Christian  character,  sanc- 
tified in  its  aims,  pardoned  of  its  unprofitableness,  over- 
ruled as  to  its  defects,  is  a power  in  the  earth ; it  is 
God’s  instrumentality  for  the  redemption  of  the  world. 
It  should  sadden  us  that  there  is  not  a greater  multipli- 
cation of  it — that  ourselves  are  spiritually  and  intellectu- 
ally so  lacking  in  what  is  essential  to  it ; but  a grateful 
opportunity  is  it  that  we  can  contemplate  this  one  marked 
case  of  a Christian  career,  so  long,  so  uninterrupted,  so 
productive. 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  AN  INSTRUCTOR. 

BY  REV.  C.  II.  FOWLER,  A.  M. 

While  I might  wish  that  the  task  of  presenting  John 
Dempster  as  an  instructor  had  been  allotted  to  some  abler 
of  his  many  pupils,  yet  I must  esteem  it  no  less  a privi- 
lege than  an  honor.  It  is  no  small  blessing  to  be  per- 
mitted to  speak  of  such  a man.  As  the  patriot  renews 
his  devotion  at  the  hallowed  tomb  of  Washington,  so  the 
student  may  rekindle  his  zeal  and  mature  his  purpose  at 
the  consecrated  mound  of  Dempster.  As  the  mathemati- 
cian, about  to  space  off  a circle  into  degrees,  may  turn  it 
round  and  round  hardly  knowing  where  to  commence, 
though  conscious  that  it  matters  not,  so  I have  turned  Dr. 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  AN  INSTRUCTOR.  59 

Dempster’s  character  round  and  round,  not  knowing 
where  to  commence.  But  the  consciousness  that  so  per- 
fect a character,  if  accurately  delineated,  will  come  out  in 
its  oneness  and  entirety  wherever  it  may  he  first  touched, 
makes  me  comparatively  indifferent  to  the  order  of  pre- 
sentation. That  I may  not  seem  to  immolate  the  living 
upon  the  tombs  of  the  dead,  or  praise  too  highly  a benefactor 
and  friend,  I w^ould  have  it  remembered  that  I speak  of 
him  only  in  his  own  peculiar  department  of  systematic 
theology  ; for  this  is  where  he  made  such  wonderful  revela- 
tions of  his  power  and  character.  He  who  has  carefully 
considered,  or  will  so  consider  it,  will  see  that  while  great 
breadth  of  views  and  depth  of  scholarship,  and  that,  too, 
in  preponderance  over  singleness  and  directness  of  thought 
along  required  lines,  are  necessary  to  the  exegesist,  the  re- 
verse is  true  of  him  who  would  grapple  successfully  with 
the  tangled  questions  of  theology.  While  he  must  have 
breadth  and  scholarship,  he  must  the  more  have  direct- 
ness and  acuteness.  This  was  Dempster’s  sphere,  and 
here  he  planted  his  siege  guns.  To  measure  him  here  is 
no  slight  task,  for  there  is  no  one  man  with  whom  to  com- 
pare him,  and  no  difficulty  that  circumscribed  him. 

Go  away  from  this  busy,  outdoor  world  of  policies, 
wars,  and  histories,  whose  horizons  encircle  the  race,  and 
go  into  the  recitation -room,  where  the  student  finds  his 
world  with  policies,  wars,  and  histories  no  narrower  to 
him  than  these  are  to  you,  and  you  shall  see  how  the 
Doctor  loomed  up  in  the  characteristics  so  essential  to  the 
successful  instructor. 

Few  men  have  ever  equaled  him  in  power  to  communicate 
forcibly  what  appeared  so  clear  and  certain  to  himself. 
His  bold,  pointed,  sometimes  fierce  and  always  clear  illus- 
trations so  concreted  and  incarnated  the  truth  that  the 
student  might  almost  take  it  in  his  hands.  Though  all 


60 


APPENDIX. 


fields  were  made  tributary  to  bis  illustrations,  yet  be  espe- 
cially gathered  from  tbe  fields  of  light  and  the  types  of 
life.  You  who  have  listened  to  his  magnificent  and  im- 
pressive conversation  can  have  some  idea  of  his  wonderful 
power  of  communication  to  the  student.  In  this  pecul- 
iarity he  may  justly  be  compared  with  Pythagoras  at 
Croton  a,  and  Coleridge  at  High  Gate.  His  strength  and 
accuracy  soon  secured  that  confidence  without  which  the 
student  is  left  to  grope  his  way  in  the  darkness.  The 
steadiness  of  conscious  strength  marked  his  advances  into 
disputed  questions ; and  the  certainty  with  which  his  ar- 
guments brought  him  and  all  who  followed  him  to  the 
truth,  made  one  willing  to  receive  his  conclusion  because 
“he  said  it.’’  But  some  unexpected  inquiry,  some  stub- 
born question  was  always  sure  to  drive  the  student  to  the 
reasons.  All  who  sailed  with  him  must  be  sailors.  The 
zest  with  which  he  attacked  errors  and  the  ease  with 
which  he  exposed  them  made  even  their  advocates  enjoy 
their  destruction.  Where  he  could  not  inspire  confidence 
with  the  ease  of  his  own  advances,  he  compelled  it  with 
the  power  of  his  logic  ; and  Napoleon  had  no  more  confi- 
dent followers  on  the  fields  of  Jena  and  Austerlitz  than 
had  this  man  in  the  questions  of  agency  and  the  atone- 
ment. 

Though  he  was  clad  in  mail  which  answered  to  the 
spear  only  with  fire,  yet  there  was  always  such  an  air  of 
gentleness  and  sympathy  about  him  that  somehow  seemed 
to  buckle  the  student  within  and  quicken  him  with  his 
own  generous  heart-throbs ; and  whether  his  disciples 
wore  away  the  weary  night  to  prepare  for  his  coming,  or 
stood  with  uncovered  head  in  his  presence,  or  in  the  days 
of  his  feebleness  and  affliction  carried  him  in  their  arms 
to  his  post  of  duty,  it  was  all  done  from  an  affection 
which  could  be  kindled  only  by  his  own  exhaustless  love. 


DE.  DEMPSTEE  AS  AN  INSTEUCTOE. 


61 


In  this  power  over  those  who  knew  him  in  his  strong- 
hold— the  recitation-room — he  may  stand  side  by  side 
with  the  amiable  Melancthon  at  Wittenbnrg. 

With  these  qualifications  it  needs  hardly  be  stated  that 
he  had  also  the  power  to  interest.  Though  he  seemed 
always  digging  into  the  roots  of  things,  yet  he  so  con- 
stantly brought  out  their  hidden  relations  to  the  every-day 
questions  of  right  and  duty,  of  conduct  and  character, 
that  one  felt  that  to  lose  one  sentence  that  fell  from  his 
lips  was  to  lose  the  real  solution  of  some  social  or  moral 
difficulty  — his  imagination  piesenting  images  glowing 
and  grand,  and  his  wit,  sparkling,  ready,  resistless,  and 
always  kindly,  made  the  dryest  and  the  most  abstruse 
subjects  glow  with  living  interest.  If  a dissenting  pupil 
would  not  see  an  inevitable  conclusion,  a single  compari- 
son on  the  involved  absurdity  would  always  extort  from 
the  will  the  conviction  of  the  judgment.  He  so  clothed 
virtue  and  unclothed  vice,  so  dignified  truth  and  be- 
meaned  error,  that  they  became  authority  and  repelling 
forces,  fiking  the  student’s  action  no  less  than  his  atten- 
tion. The  interest  that  warmed  every  subject  he  touched 
bound  to  him  every  genuine  student  no  less  firmly  than 
were  the  young  Athenians  wedded  to  the  unsandaled  phi- 
losopher of  Athens.  As  the  profligate  Alcibiades  was 
compelled  to  stop  his  ears  in  presence  of  Socrates  lest  he 
should  grow  old  under  his  voice,  so  the  vicious  could  ill 
retain  their  vices  in  the  presence  of  him  whom  we  to- 
night commemorate  ; for  to  hear  him  was  to  follow,  and 
to  follow  was  to  obey. 

In  the  peculiar  discouragements  which  none  but  the 
student  may  experience.  Dr.  Dempster  came  always  with 
words  of  cheer.  His  smile  in  weariness,  his  calm  purpose 
in  the  midst  of  delay,  his  buoyancy  in  spite  of  his  cease- 
less toil,  made  the  student  feel  that  however  slow  the 


62 


APPENDIX. 


advancement,  it  was  reward  enougdi  simply  to  have  studied 
and  struggled.  Wesley’s  words  cheered  not  more  the  early 
itinerants,  nor  Washington’s  presence  the  veterans  of 
Valley  Forge,  than  did  this  man’s  precepts  and  practice 
encourage  the  dejected  student.  This  was  essential  to  his 
largest  success  ; for  loneliness  and  wanderings  somehow 
inhere  in  student-life,  and  every  scholar,  sooner  or  later, 
finds  his  Valley  Forge. 

That  which  did  most  to  make  the  Doctor  an  instructor 
was  the  wonderful  inspiration  of  his  life-work.  Where 
personal  ambition  and  even  a conviction  of  duty  could  not 
drive  the  student,  he  allured  by  the  magic  of  his  example. 
Europe  followed  Peter  the  Hermit  not  more  eagerly  thi  ough 
nakedness  and  famine  toward  the  sepulcher  of  the  Savior, 
than  did  all  earnest  students  follow  Dempster  to  the  great 
truths  of  the  atonement.  No  man  could  sit  under  his 
teachings  without  receiving  clear  ideas  of  God’s  spiritual 
government,  a calm  reverence  for  the  living  organism  of 
the  Church  he  represented,  and  a veneration  for  the  dig- 
nity and  responsibility  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  and  pur- 
posing for  himself  a wide  scholarship  with  which  to  meet 
that  responsibility  and  adorn  that  ministry.  Such  is  the 
character  of  John  Dempster  as  he  appeared  to  his  pupils. 
To  those  of  you  who  saw  him  only  as  he  hastened  along 
your  streets  or  sat  quiet  on  public  occasions,  this  may 
seem  overdrawn  ; but  to  those  who  have  known  him  in 
the  no  less  stirring  world  of  the  recitation-room,  these 
words  will  find  ready  response.  Communicating  knowl- 
edge like  Coleridge,  gaining  confidence  like  Napoleon, 
winning  affection  like  Melancthon,  awakening  interest 
like  Socrates,  giving  encouragement  like  Wesley,  and 
kindling  inspiration  like  Peter  the  Hermit,  he  stood,  in 
his  sphere  of  systematic  theology,  an  instructor  without 
a superior,  if  not  without  a peer.  In  the  mission  on 


DE.  DEMPSTEE  AS  A MANAGE  PEOGEESS.  63 


which  he  was  sent  into  the  world,  he  is  the  man  of  his 
century,  and  his  works  shall  follow  him. 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MAN  OF  PROGRESS. 

BY  REV.  O.  H.  TIFFANY,  D.  D. 

Distinction  is  achieved  by  some  men,  and  is  thrust 
upon  others  : some  throw  the  grandeur  of  their  personal 
genius  over  every  act  of  common  life ; others,  who  lead 
humbler  lives,  are  made""famous  by  the  works  which  fol- 
low them.  The  first  class,  for  the  most  part,  are  devoted 
to  self ; the  second  class,  more  generally,  are  devoted  to 
God.  Public  aj^plause,  in  all  its  forms  of  notoriety  and 
adulation,  is  the  reward  of  those  who  seek  display  for 
selfish  ends  ; fame,  the  approbation  of  good  men,  is  the 
boon  God  often  gives  to  those  who  follow  him.  The 
marks  of  progress  are  close  upon  the  footsteps  of  the 
earnest  worker  of  God,  who  toils  on,  unconscious 

How  the  great  world 
Is  praising  him  far  off.” 

The  men  of  progress  ‘‘go  from  strength  to  strength,” 
heedless  of  men’s  applause.  Companionship  with  Him 
who  saw  all  things  before  they  were  has  turned  their 
gaze  away  from  the  fleeting  present  to  the  eternal  future. 
With  them  “the  goal  of  to-day  is  but  the  starting-point 
of  to-morrow.” 

Such  a man  was  Dr.  Dempster.  It  were  treason  to  his 
memory  to  say  he  worked  for  fame.  If  the  cause  which 
he  espoused  moved  on,  if  God  was  glorified,  his  end  was 
gained.  The  triumphs  of  progress  in  which  he  took  part 
were  not  forecast  in  the  brain  of  a dreamer,  nor  were 

they  the  Utopian  schemes  of  an  idealistic  reformer;  thev 

38 


64 


APPENDIX* 


grew  out  of  the  practical  working  of  the  system  with 
which  he,  as  a Christian  minister,  was  identified,  and 
resulted  from  necessities  deA^eloped  by  experience. 

As  presiding  elder  on  the  Cayuga  district  of  the  Oneida 
Conference  he  marked  the  fact  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ  the  educated  and 
the  influential.  He  feared  that  the  control  of  educated 
mind  would  pass  from  us  with  the  lapse  of  the  fervor 
of  a first  love,  and  that  the  educated,  failing  to  realize 
needed  culture  from  those  who  had  convinced,  would  seek 
their  upbuilding  at  another  shrine.  He  was  ever  jealous 
for  Methodism,  and  fearful  lest  having  labored  another 
should  build  on  his  foundation.  To  meet  their  want 
thus  felt,  he  applied  to  Bishop  Hedding  for  the  transfer 
of  men  of  experience  from  the  East ; and,  as  he  said  in 
Conference,  and  often  by  the  fireside,  ‘‘The  bishop  shook 
his  gray  locks  and  replied,  ‘We  have  no  such  men  to 
spare.’  ” Men  must  then  be  made,  was  his  conclusion  ; 
and  to  the  making  of  such  men  his  efforts  were  thereafter 
devoted.  All  his  energies  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  in 
the  prosecution  of  this  work,  and  he  shrank  from  no  toil, 
no  sacrifice  in  its  accomplishment.  In  the  outset  he  had 
to  depend  on  his  own  energy  and  means ; for  when  he 
with  his  associates  kneeled  to  dedicate  themselves  and  form- 
ally to  offer  their  services  to  God,  there  were  no  buildings 
for  instruction,  no  salaries  for  instructors,  and  but  few 
friends  for  the  enterprise  itself.  Methodism,  which  was 
born  in  a university,  and  which  grew  out  of  the  life  and 
labors  of  an  accomplished  scholar,  had  come,  in  this  re- 
spect, almost  to  disregard  the  teaching  of  John  Wesley, 
and  his  example  of  studious  toil. 

Dawning  upon  the  world  in  an  age  when  spiritual 
qualifications  were  considered,  less  essential  than  intel- 
lectual accomplishment  for  the  religious  teacher,  Method- 


DE.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MAN  OF  PROGRESS.  65 


ism  had  given  such  practical  demonstration  that  minis- 
terial efficiency  was  not  the  result  of  intellectual  might  or 
of  educated  power,  but  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
that  the  great  body  of  believers  had  gone  to  an  opposite 
extreme,  and  seemed  to  believe  that  there  was  somewhat 
of  efficiency  in  the  very  absence  of  culture  ; and,  though 
they  honestly  meant  to  give  God  all  the  glory,  they  made 
mental  reservation  of  a little  credit  to  the  lack  of  learn- 
ing in  the  preacher.  Add  to  this  th6  fear  which  was 
justly  entertained  of  reverting  to  practices  which  had 
proved  ruinous  enough  to  other  Churches  to  necessitate 
the  organization  of  our  own,  and  we  can  see  how  fearful 
was  the  task  attempted ; yet  we  know  not  that  he  ever 
faltered.  Faint  sometimes  from  his  weary  efforts — sad- 
dened often  by  repulses  where  he  had  hoped  for  sym- 
pathy— but  distrustful  of  the  end  or  doubtful  of  the  right, 
never.  Believing  himself  in  no  small  manner  called  to 
this  work — aware  of  its  importance  to  the  Church  and 
to  the  world — he  struggled  and  toiled  till  he  mastered 
opposition,  conquered  difficulties,  and  saw  our  Biblical 
Institutes  recognized  by  the  General  Conference  as  in- 
stitutions of  the  Church.  When  the  feeble  beginning 
at  Newberry  had  been  consummated  at  Concord,  he 
turned  his  eye  westward,  and  was  not  slow  to  enter 
upon  similar  labors  in  the  great  North-West,  where, 
greeted  by  the  benefactions  of  a pious  matron — a mem- 
ber of  the  Church  in  which  we  are  now  assembled — he 
laid  the  corner-stone  and  assisted  in  the  founding  of  a 
second  institute.  Here  he  labored  and  taught;  but  his 
fame  will  rest  not  on  his  teachings,  but  his  toils ; for 
long  after  the  philosophy  he  investigated  shall  have  ceased 
to  interest  and  to  instruct,  the  results  flowing  from  the 
fact  of  organized  ministerial  culture  will  still  fill  the 
world  with  blessing. 


66 


APPENDIX. 


The  spirit  of  progress  ‘‘  makes  the  coming  life-cry 
always,  On and  of  this  spirit  he  was  full.  From  the 
banks  of  Lake  Michigan  he  looked  over,  across  prairies 
and  beyond  mountains,  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean ; 
mingling  with  the  gentle  ripple  of  the  lake,  his  ear  ever 
heard  the  reverberation  of  the  ocean  surges,  and  the  desire 
was  strong  within  him  to  complete  a triad  of  benefactions 
for  the  Church,  by  erecting  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains  another  ‘‘school  for  the  prophets.” 
But  it  is  enough  for  one  laborer  to  have  changed  the 
current  of  a Church’s  life  into  a broader  channel,  and 
to  have  placed,  both  in  New  England  and  in  the  ex- 
pansive West,  a Pharos  — a beacon  which  should  not 
only  guide  but  cheer.  All  honor  to  the  man  who,  though 
himself  unblessed  with  early  culture,  so  saw  its  need  as 
to  devote  the  genius  which  was  given  him,  as  well  as  the 
results  of  its  consecration  to  the  culture  of  his  brethren. 

The  great  problem  of  the  age  is  freedom  ; and  with  the 
destinies  of  civil  liberty  the  history  of  our  Church  has 
been  mysteriously  interwoven.  At  a time  when  the 
fathers  of  the  Eepublic  j)rovided  shelter  for  slavery  in 
the  Constitution  as  an  evil  which  they  fondly  hoped 
would  be  but  short-lived,  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  in 
1796,  were  asking  every  one  whom  they  received,  “What 
regulations  shall  be  made  for  the  extirpation  of  the  cry- 
ing evil  of  African  slavery?”  The  nation  prospered,  the 
Church  increased,  but  slavery  flourished.  All  through 
the  Union  the  testimony  of  the  Church  was  a rebuke  to 
the  nation,  as  from  Maine  to  Texas  the  question  was 
asked,  “What  shall  be  done  for  the  extirpation  of  this 
evil?”  And  in  all  the  States  the  answer  was  made,  that 
“we  are  as  much  as  ever  convinced  of  the  great  evil  of 
slavery.” 

Political  profligacy  debauched  the  national  conscience 


DR.  DEMPSTER  AS  A MAN  OF  PROGRESS.  67 


and  prostituted  the  national  honor ; yet  still  the  affirma- 
tion of  the  Church  was  made,  and  her  offices  were  re- 
fused to  those  who  were  entangled  in  unholy  alliance  with 
the  gigantic  evil.  The  time  came  when  one  of  the  chiefest 
officers  of  the  Church  became  by  marriage  ‘‘connected 
with  slavery.’’  The  facts  in  the  case  and  the  principle 
involved  were  discussed  in  the  General  Conference  of 
1844,  and  by  a vote  of  one  hundred  and  eleven  to  sixty- 
eight  Bishop  Andrew  was  directed  to  “desist  from  the 
exercise  of  his  office  as  long  as  this  impediment  remains.” 
Bishop  Andrew  desired  to  resign  the  office  which  he  held, 
and  had  written  his  resignation,  but  was  prevented  from 
so  doing  by  the  remonstrance  of  his  brethren  from  the 
Southern  Conferences,  who  had  already  decided  that  slave- 
holding was  no  disqualification.  The  result  was  the  rup- 
ture of  the  Church,  and  the  formation  of  a Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South.  Advantage  was  taken  of  this 
result  to  stifle  the  growing  sentiment  of  the  Church,  and 
prevent  its  utterances  for  freedom  on  the  ground  of  an- 
ticipated injury  to  the  border  Conferences,  though  their 
representatives  had  brought  the  Church  to  the  issue,  and 
had  fought  the  battle  of  freedom.  And  for  years  the 
Church  added  nothing  to  the  force  of  its  testimony,  till, 
instead  of  leading  moral  sentiment,  it  was  far  behind  the 
moral  conviction  of  its  membership. 

The  men  of  progress  were  aroused,  and  among  them 
John  Dempster  stood  foremost,  demanding,  in  1856,  that 
the  Church  should  speak,  in  language  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, the  conviction  that  slavery  was  “contrary  to  the 
law  of  God  and  nature,  and  inconsistent  with  the  Golden 
Buie.”  Loud  were  the  anathemas  of  border  State  men; 
deep  were  the  execrations  of  the  enemies  of  freedom ; 
but,  despite  them  all,  in  1860  the  Church  righted,  and 
made  the  affirmation  changing  the  rule,  interpreting  its 


68 


APPENDIX. 


own  language,  and  placing  itself  before  the  nation  and 
before  tlie  world  in  a just  position,  to  become  a rallying- 
point  for  tlie  friends  of  freedom  when  rebeldom  should 
seek  with  armed  violence  to  strike  down  human  hope  and 
human  liberty.  The  rebellion  opened  its  batteries,  mar- 
shaled its  armies,  and  flung  its  defiance  in  the  face  of  the 
nation.  The  men  of  the  Union  were  paralyzed  in  their 
efforts  by  their  former  concessions  to  the  slave  power, 
and  the  great  heart  of  the  Kepublic  was  oppressed  with 
fear  lest  freedom  should  be  circumscribed,  and  slavery  ob- 
tain advantages  which  might  establish  it  forever.  Then 
the  Christian  men  of  the  North-West,  which  territory 
had  by  special  act  been  set  apart  foi’  freedom,  met  in 
council  in  Chicago,  and  selected  W.  W.  Patton  and 
John  Dempster  to  bear  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  their  religious  conviction  of  his  duty  to  issue  a 
Pi-oclamation  of  Emancipation.  They  stood  before  the 
Chief  Magistrate  and  reasoned  with  him  of  righteousness 
and  judgment ; and  the  opponents  of  the  measure  have 
always  charged  that  these  men  were  greatly  influential  in 
procuring  for  the  nation  that  Proclamation  which  struck 
off  the  fetters  from  4,000,000  slaves,  and  by  so  doing 
righted  the  Ship  of  State,  changed  the  conduct  of  the 
war  from  a policy  to  a principle,  and  made  the  line 
of  our  national  life  parallel  with  our  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence. The  bearers  of  that  message  were  men 
worthy  of  their  mission  : the  one  the  pastor  of  a con- 
gregation, owning  no  fellowship  with  slavery;  the  other 
the  representative  of  a Church  which,  in  all  the  history 
of  the  century,  had  been  asking,  ‘‘  What  shall  be  done 
for  the  extirpation  of  this  great  evil?”  In  these  great 
events,  as  we  have  seen,  John  Dempster  w^as  a leader. 
He  anticipated  the  future,  and  stood  up  to  meet  the  com- 
ing crisis  ; and  his  name  will  be  enrolled  with  those  who 


13R.  AS  A MAN  OF. PROGRESS.  69 


repaiied  the  broken  altars  of  the  Temple  of  God,  and 
strengthened  the  pillars  of  national  freedom. 

This  spirit  of  progress  which  was  in  him  gave  a charm 
to  his  whole  life  and  bearing.  It  kept  him  ever  young ; 
for  it  allied  him  in  sympathy  and  in  action  with  the 
living,  tlirobbing  heart-beat  of  the  moving  world.  To 
whatever  age  his  life  might  have  been  prolonged,  he  could 
never  have  become  an  old  man,  or  been  alienated  from 
the  onsweeping  effort  of  determined  progress.  He  never 
joined  in  the  querulous  complaint  of  the  ‘‘former  days 
better  than  now,’’  but  his  spirit  ever  was  “leaving  the 
things  which  are  behind  press  forward.”  Right  cheerily 
did  he  welcome  as  an  auxiliary  every  earnest  man  and 
every  earnest  movement  for  the  good  of  the  Church. 

Desiring  progress,  and  believing  well  that  every  honest 
effort  was  promotive  of  the  truth,  he  stimulated  discus- 
sion with  those  who  differed  fiom  him.  And,  though 
the  intensity  of  his  own  convictions  may  have  prevented 
somewhat  his  appreciation  of  the  possibility  of  an  equal 
and  yet  opposite  conviction  in  another,  he  delighted  in 
the  exercise  of  conscious  strength,  and  felt  and  claimed 
that  truth  was  near  its  triumph  when  the  conflict  waxed 
severe ; and  every  one  who  felt  his  strength,  or  whose 
desire  is  for  truth  rather  than  for  victory,  can  judge  with 
what  keen  and  exquisite  relish  he  presented  the  opinions 
which  resulted  from  patient  labor  in  his  own  chosen  field. 
Had  he  lived,  the  proposed  extension  of  the  term  of 
ministerial  service  and  the  idea  of  “lay  representation” 
would  both  have  received  his  vote  in  the  General  Con- 
ference, for  they  commended  themselves  to  his  matured 
judgment  as  progressive  movements  demanded  by  the 
times.  He  may  have  felt  that  all  the  means  and  methods 
used  to  secure  the  association  of  laymen  in  the  councils 
of  the  Church  were  not  wise,  but  he  felt  also  that  much 


70 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  opposition  to  it  was  factious,  partisan,  and  un- 
generous; that  the  ‘‘let  well  enough  alone cry  of  many 
was  the  very  rallying  shout  of  those  whom  he  had  met 
and  vanquished  as  the  foes  of  ministerial  culture,  and  his 
age  would  not  have  deterred  him  from  engaging  their 
weapons,  answering  their  arguments,  and  overcoming 
their  prejudices ; while  the  recollected  achievements  of 
his  earlier  manhood  would  have  invested  his  position 
with  a moral  fitness  almost  sublime. 

Great  minds  can  never  cease ; yet  have  they  not 

A separate  estate  of  deathlessness  ; 

The  future  is  a remnant  of  their  life ; 

Our  time  is  part  of  theirs,  not  theirs  of  ours.’’ 

The  lesson  of  John  Dempster’s  life — spent  as  it  was  in 
grappling  with  error  and  in  mastering  the  difficulties  that 
opposed  progress — pervaded  as  it  was  with  that  “sym- 
pathy with  God”  which  is  “the  master  spirit  of  true 
progress” — speaks  to  us  at  this  hour,  saying: 

“Breast  the  wave,  Christian,  when  it  is  strongest; 

Watch  for  day,  Christian,  when  night  is  longest; 

Onward  and  onward  still  be  thine  endeavor; 

The  rest  that  remaineth  endureth  forever. 

Fight  the  fight,  Christian — Jesus  is  o’er  thee; 

Run  the  race,  Christian — heaven  is  before  thee ; 

He  who  hath  promised  faltereth  never; 

0,  trust  in  the  love  that  endureth  forever. 

Lift  the  eye,  Christian,  just  as  it  closeth ; 

Raise  the  heart,  Christian,  ere  it  reposeth ; 

Nothing  thy  soul  from  the  Savior  shall  sever; 

Soon  shalt  thou  mount  upward  to  praise  him  forever.” 

His  departure  we  have  seen,  and  each  of  us  has  cried: 
“My  Father,  my  Father,  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the 
horsemen  thereof!”  God  grant  that  whoever  may  he 
called  to  wear  his  mantle  may  possess  a double  portion 
of  his  spirit  1 


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